I had my SCAD in August 2012 whilst out shopping with my children. It came completely out of the blue, I was fit and healthy, never experienced any heart problems previously. One minute I felt fine, the next minute I felt faint and I had an unusual pain in my chest - almost like I had something stuck in my oesophagus. I called passersby for help as I was worried I was going to pass out and was concerned for my kids.

Luckily paramedics were called and I was quickly in the back of an ambulance. My heart went into arrest but I was quickly revived. When I arrived at hospital I had an angiogram and they diagnosed artery dissection. The plan was to just treat with meds and I stayed in hospital for five days. I was then given a second angiogram with the hope that it would show my artery had repaired. However my artery dissected again during the angiogram so I had emergency double bypass surgery.

It took a little while to recover from my SCAD physically and even longer to deal with the emotional side of things. But I am now feeling so much better - cardiac rehab really helped with my confidence and getting back up to speed. Meeting other SCAD survivors has been such a huge support emotionally. I'm delighted that research is underway - we all have so many questions we would love answers to!