Peter

Atrial fibrillation

Heart attack

From fighting fires to fighting for his life

Peter, a former firefighter of 37 years, shares how he suffered an unexpected heart attack, navigating subsequent treatment and rehabilitation, and how the experience shifted his focus towards family, fitness, and a new chapter in retirement.

“I've been a professional firefighter for 37 years,” says Peter. “I'd been keeping fit all my life. I'd do lots of yoga, and I my cholesterol was good, my blood pressure was great, and I've been monitoring that for the last 20 years because of my profession.

“Softball was my game, and I've coached for the last 33 years for my club Miramar, I've coached professionally. I've coached juniors all the way through to senior rep teams, and even ended up coaching a New Zealand development side. 

“So, I was very active in the community. I helped at the citizen advice bureau. I did lots and lots of stuff. I was always active. I like to cycle and walk and swim. I've always kept in shape, because that's necessary for the job. I had a good life.”

Life-changing heart event

“There's no history of heart disease in my family, so it came as a real shock to have this event. On the morning of my heart attack, I woke up, it was about four o'clock in the morning, and it really felt like indigestion and incredible pain – nine out of ten.

“I don't normally sleep on my right side. I'm a side sleeper. But I thought, ‘Oh, gosh, it must be because I'm sleeping on my right side.’ And I tried getting into different positions and I was thinking, ‘What have I eaten last night?’ I just didn't even think it was a heart attack. 

“And then a friend of mine came around about 11 o'clock in the morning, and the pain in my chest was just horrendous. It was horrendous, and I'd never felt anything like that before. So, my friend suggested going to the hospital and when they were taking me there, I couldn't even talk and for me, I'm a talker!

“I tried to ring my son to say what was going on. I couldn't even talk so it was obvious there was something wrong with me, I just didn’t know it was my heart. But I'm forever grateful for my friend insisting I go to hospital.”

Getting to the heart of it

“Once at the hospital, they took a blood test, and then they admitted me. They said I'd had a heart attack, and they did an angiogram. They looked at my heart and the arteries inside my heart, and they saw that one wasn’t right. So, there was an acute problem with one of them, and they did a stent.

“But they said they identified two other problems on the left side of my heart that needed to be stented too, though they did nothing about them at the time. 

“And then three weeks after that, they advised me to come to hospital to do the heart rehab program. So, I did that, and it was pretty low-key exercise, given what I was used to, but at the end of that session, my heart was going really fast, and I didn't feel so well. Then I collapsed. 

“It was just all a blur. I don't even know how long I was unconscious for, but the feeling of that going unconscious, I couldn't control it. You know, it's not like you're puffed, and you can go, ‘Okay, slow your heart down, breathe.’ I was trying all those things. I was closing my eyes, and then boom, and I was on the floor, and they were talking to me and working on me.

“Then, then the realisation of what had happened was like the light had been turned off in my life, just like that. And then the emotion of that came to me. All I wanted was my son to be with me.”

Importance of family support

“And then, later on down the track, you realize what is important in your life, not all the dross, not all the stuff, just your family. So that was a tough time for me, but that was what helped get me through.

“While I was at the hospital, I realised the seriousness of it all. And they wouldn't let me go home, and so they did the other two stents, and that was great, and I felt better. 

“Some people have talked about, when you get the stents, it's like the engine is running really sweet again. I didn't have that feeling. I didn't feel any differently, other than they said that they'd done the three stents in total.”

Atrial Fibrillation diagnosis

“Two months after my stents had been fitted, I was sitting on my computer, just around 10.30 in the morning, I can still remember it, and my heart just started to go crazy, and I panicked, and I called my son straight away. He was just living close by, so he came over.

“He took me to the hospital, and I got admitted straight away, and they diagnosed me with Atrial Fibrillation. And I was watching the monitor. It was crazy. 192, 18, 120, 90, and that was the beginning of my journey with AF. 

“So, eventually I got to see a cardiologist in clinic at the hospital, and he told me to try the pill in the pocket method. And so, when I eventually got back to see cardiologist Sarah Feeley at Wellington hospital, I had recorded all the time, the duration and when it occurred. It's on a spreadsheet, and I gave that to Sarah, and she said, ‘Oh, you're having a lot of AF episodes.’ I said, ‘I know, and it's getting worse, more frequent, and the pill in the pocket’s not working as well.’

“And then about four weeks later, I had the catheter ablation, which was just life changing for me. The counselling for me was a godsend, not only the catheter ablation, but also the counselling in conjunction with that.”

Rehab, recovery and outlook for the future

“I've got to give a shout out to Heart Works here in Wellington, which is a rehab clinic. By exercising together and feeling more confident about exercising, it has really just made such a difference to my life.

“Because I'm feeling like I'm never going to be as good as I was, and that I'll never be able to be a firefighter again. That's okay. I'm okay with that. I'm feeling good now that I can exercise with confidence and because the rehabilitation is monitored and structured and overseen by a cardiologist, you have confidence in that program, that you're being looked after and guided.

“And I'm having results. I'm positive about it all. I'm retired but I'm looking forward to the future. I'm still working on getting my fitness back up, my confidence is rising and my ability to do stuff, because that's the thing. You lose your confidence. And that sense of mortality is very real. And for me, it's ironic. It really is ironic, because at this station at Kilbirnie, you know, I've attended at least 50 CPRs in the last year, and to be on the other side of that, it gave me a whole new perspective on life.”