Faye Greenwood, 25, suffered a heart attack at 24 during a work trip to Paris in July 2025. Initially, she thought she was having a panic attack, but her condition escalated to vomiting blood and struggling to breathe. She underwent surgery to remove the blockage that caused the heart attack.
Mistaking Symptoms for a Panic Attack
Faye, a lifestyle influencer, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at 18 and took medication to manage the condition. She said she had never been warned that her heart condition could increase her risk of a heart attack. At a work event in Paris, she first felt unusually tired, which she attributed to exhaustion.
"I remember feeling quite tired that day. My boyfriend and I just travelled to Paris because we had a work event, and we got there, and then I just felt really, really tired," she told the Daily Express. After resting at the hotel, she still felt exhausted. Following a stage talk at the event, she began to feel unwell.
Emergency and Surgery
"I went on stage, did the talking bit and straight away, as soon as I got off, I felt really ill, went and sat outside, and I was having a heart attack then," she said. She developed anxious and panicky feelings alongside severe pain, initially believing it was a panic attack. Soon, she began vomiting blood and struggling to breathe.
Her boyfriend called an ambulance, and she was taken to A&E. However, she sat for several hours without proper assessment and returned to the hotel due to pain. A language barrier in France complicated matters. "Because I was having a heart attack and I was in so much pain, I couldn't explain my feelings because my brain wasn't there. So that was really hard on top of already having a language barrier," she said. After waking up feeling worse, an ambulance was called again, and doctors then realised how seriously ill she was.
Recognising Warning Signs
Looking back, Faye said she did not recognise her symptoms as warning signs. She mainly remembers feeling unusually tired despite doing very little, as well as weight loss and a loss of appetite. According to the World Health Organisation, heart attack symptoms can differ between men and women.
The organisation states: "The symptoms of a heart attack in men are intense chest pain, pain in the left arm or jaw and difficulty breathing. Women may have some of the same symptoms, but their pain may be more diffused, spreading to the shoulders, neck, arms, abdomen and back." It adds that women may experience pain more like indigestion, which may not be consistent, and may have unexplained anxiety, nausea, dizziness, palpitations and cold sweat. "Heart attacks in women may be preceded by unexplained fatigue. Women also tend to have more severe first heart attacks that more frequently lead to death, compared to men," the organisation notes.
Recovery and Advocacy
Now recovering, Faye has returned to the gym and does cardio exercises three times a week. She said the experience has taught her to take her health more seriously and advocate for herself. "I always feel like I'm a pain - I don't want to annoy people or whatever. But people should push for their health and speak up," she said.
Faye shared her testimony on World Heart Day, which takes place every year on September 29 and raises awareness of cardiovascular disease.
