A chef and fitness enthusiast from Manchester has shared his harrowing experience of suffering two so-called 'widowmaker' heart attacks at the age of 32, after initially dismissing the warning signs as mere gym fatigue. Ryan Mickleburgh hopes his story will encourage others to take symptoms seriously.
The Onset of Symptoms
In March of last year, Mickleburgh was training at the gym when he began to feel a tightness in his chest. Believing it was simply muscle fatigue from his workout, he brushed it off. However, the symptoms escalated. While driving home, he experienced an electric shock-like sensation down his left side, from his jaw into his left arm. Still, he attributed it to muscle strain.
Subsequently, he suffered hot flushes and felt as though he had the flu. In an attempt to sweat out the symptoms, he took a shower, but then encountered difficulty breathing out, describing it as if his lungs were collapsing. This triggered a panic attack, his first ever.
Realisation and Medical Emergency
Mickleburgh eventually sought medical help and was diagnosed with having suffered two 'widowmaker' heart attacks, a term used for blockages in the left anterior descending artery, which have a low survival rate. He later discovered he had a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO), commonly known as a hole in the heart, which likely allowed a blood clot to pass through and trigger the attacks.
Raising Awareness
Since his survival, Mickleburgh has been dedicated to raising awareness about heart attack symptoms, particularly among young men. He posted a video on TikTok detailing his experience, stating: 'Young men are taught to push through everything - pain, stress at work or home, exhaustion. I was like most young men - I thought I was invincible. The grindset nearly killed me.'
He praises the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which offers free heart health screenings for people aged 14 to 35. Mickleburgh urges others to get checked, noting that if he had known about such screenings, his heart condition would have been detected earlier.
His message is clear: do not ignore symptoms like chest tightness, pain radiating down the left arm, hot flushes, or breathing difficulties. These could be signs of a heart attack, even in young, seemingly healthy individuals.
