Mum of five, Elaine O’Malley Clarke from Gorey in Co Wexford, suffered her first heart attack out of the blue on St Stephens Day 2019 when she was aged just 47.
Elaine, a community first responder and long-time diabetes patient, knew something wasn’t right. She felt a pressure in her chest, was exceptionally tired and had a persistent pain in her shoulder blade – symptoms she recognised could signal a heart attack. She went straight to her local hospital where tests, including an ECG, were carried out. Her symptoms were attributed to her diabetes due to having very high blood sugar levels at the time. She was admitted and stayed in hospital for 2 days. By that time the symptoms had passed so she returned home.
Elaine’s shoulder pain lingered intermittently for three weeks and after visiting her GP she was referred for a heart echo in June. The scan revealed damage to her heart and confirmed that she had experienced a heart attack at an earlier time.
Following the heart attack, Elaine had struggled with chronic fatigue and everyday tasks became difficult. Climbing stairs left her breathless.
A few months later, in September 2020, Elaine had an angiogram which revealed she urgently needed a quadruple bypass. The scan showed four blockages, including one in the left anterior descending artery which is a major artery supplying blood to the heart. She was admitted to hospital and had her bypass surgery the following month.
Elaine shared that recovery wasn’t easy. “It’s very hard to read other people’s experiences when you’re not the person who bounces back straight away.” Elaine returned home five days after surgery, but her chest wound wasn’t healing properly due to an infection. She needed further treatment and was eventually readmitted to hospital, staying until late December, but she made it home just in time for Christmas on December 23rd.
Still exhausted from the surgery and infection, Elaine, usually upbeat and positive, found the slow recovery mentally challenging. She felt isolated during her hospital stay as COVID restrictions meant that she wasn’t allowed any visitors. She had expected to recover in six weeks, but even after twelve, she couldn’t lift her head off the pillow. It was frightening, and she feared she might be one of the few for whom the surgery wouldn’t work.
Elaine began cardiac rehabilitation in July and although still fatigued, she felt better than she had before the heart attack. But sleep didn’t leave her refreshed, and her energy remained low.
In September 2021, Elaine was devastated when she experienced a second heart attack. The symptoms were familiar – pressure in her chest and pain in her shoulder blade
"I wasn’t feeling great all day, and I was extremely tired. I went for a sit down and suddenly was having difficulty breathing and the pressure on my chest and the pain in the shoulder blade was worse than the first time."
Given her history and recent bypass, she was taken by ambulance to a Coronary Care Unit in Dublin. An angiogram revealed that two of her bypass grafts had blocked – an unusual occurrence so soon after surgery. She underwent an angioplasty to insert two stents, returned home two days later, and “felt like a new woman.”
Elaine completed cardiac rehabilitation again following this second event and credits it with restoring her confidence. Her anxiety eased, and she no longer constantly worried about her health. She wears a watch monitor and checks her blood pressure daily. The readings are sent automatically to the care unit, and if two alerts are triggered, she receives a call to check in. “It’s not that I don’t care anymore. I’m not concerned anymore. Someone else will see those readings and I don’t need to second guess what’s going on.”
She contacted the Irish Heart Foundation Nurse Support Line when she was worried about her heart rate post-surgery. She found it very reassuring and good to be able to talk to an expert voice. “You believe a nurse or somebody with a medical background. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you what might be obvious. So that’s a reassurance.”
Elaine is an active member of the Irish Heart Foundation’s Heart Support Facebook group. “It’s good to read about other people’s experiences. It can be a confidence booster to read that someone’s had a tough time and now they’re back walking, because that could be me next week.
"You realise that there’s an awful lot of people out there like you.”
She often discusses heart health with friends and family. Her family has a history of medical conditions including diabetes and heart disease. As a first responder before her heart attack, Elaine was used to being called out for heart or stroke emergencies, offering reassurance and calm. She’s always been health-aware and proactive. “Know your good days and your bad days, as opposed to when there’s something wrong.” Her chest scar often sparks conversations, and she’s happy to share her story.
“I don't think enough people realise women do not always get the same symptoms of heart disease as men. That is a big, big issue."
“My cholesterol was perfect. My blood pressure is on the extremely low side and always has been. A lot of women I’ve talked to seemed to experience shoulder pain or a little bit of weight on the chest, not even that you can’t breathe as such, but just your chest feels heavy.”
Elaine believes women don’t always mind themselves. “You just keep going. If you have a niggly pain in your shoulder and a little bit of weight on your chest, you just keep going.” She’s a strong advocate of “know your numbers,” and encourages others to be aware of their health and notice unusual symptoms.
“Because I’m diabetic I was being closely watched. So I wasn’t overly worried about my heart. My ECGs were fine, my cholesterol was in the range, and my blood pressure never went up. The obvious signs were not there. But when I look back the breathlessness was there. It’s only when you look back you think ‘I’ve been breathless doing routine activities for months’.”
For Elaine, fatigue remains a challenge. “I occasionally will get breathlessness if I do too much. Unfortunately, I am fatigued a lot of the time. I have to pace myself with what I do. If I have a really busy few days I will then sleep for the best part of the following day. So I’ve just accepted that I must just sleep when that exhaustion takes over.”
Elaine is happy to share her story in the hope that it might help even one person or ease the worry of one family. “I believe it’s important that people see and hear the real stories. Nothing that I had read beforehand was my reality.”
Elaine didn’t bounce back after six weeks, as some other people have. She didn’t feel well and needed additional treatment. Recovery, she says, “is not always straightforward, but there is an end to it, and if you are aware of that it makes it less scary if it takes longer.” Her advice to others is simple but powerful: if something doesn’t feel right, speak up. “If you don’t feel right, tell your medical team and keep asking questions so that you get the help that you need.”
2025-06-20
