Tasmanian mum wakes up in hospital days after collapsing at work: 'I didn't know what had happened'

The only time Jillian Coe had been in hospital before the age of 40 was when she had her children.

"I was pretty fit and healthy, I hadn't suffered any major issues at all," Coe, 46, tells 9Honey.

The Tasmanian teacher mother-of-two had been feeling well, having recently celebrated her 40th birthday, until one particular Wednesday morning in November 2015 before the school day began.

She has no memory of what happened next, piecing it all together from what she has since been told.

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"Apparently I was feeling unwell, so I went up to the office and spoke to a colleague, trying to decide if I should stay at school or go home," she says.

"The school day hadn't started. Next thing she knew, I was on the floor.

"The ambulance officers she spoke to had a feeling something more was going on, it wasn't just a faint, so she performed CPR and they arrived quickly."

Coe's next memory is of waking up on Saturday in the hospital cardiac ward.

"I had apparently been placed in an induced coma and then on the Friday they brought me out of it," she says.

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"I was apparently talking on the Friday, I was asked some questions and answered them and that was a good sign. My uncle had been unwell, so I'd asked about him.

"They said something about a SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection). It's a tear that occurs in your arteries spontaneously. They're still doing research to find out why they happen. There are different theories, there could be a genetic link, it could be hormonal."

Having been rushed to hospital on a Wednesday, Coe had undergone a procedure to have three stents placed.

"My chest was very sore for a long time from the CPR. But the feeling I remember the most was confusion, I didn't know what had happened. I was also quite weak and tired," she recalls.

"I stayed in hospital for about a week. But it was near the end of the school year so I didn't go back to work until the following school year started."

Coee has since suffered two smaller heart attacks, nowhere near as severe as the first that almost cost her life.

"They serve as little reminders to keep an eye on things," she says. "I had the first heart attack in 2015, then another one in 2017 and one in November, 2021."

When asked to describe the symptoms of her heart attacks, she says they include "tightening of the neck and under the arms and a bit across the chest", and "pain that won't go away."

"The first time I wasn't sure what was going on. The next two times she experienced these symptoms and rang for an ambulance," she says.

"I didn't need any treatment, I was monitored for a couple of days both times and given medication and I had some scans."

Coe is still able to exercise, carefully.

"I'm not supposed to lift heavy weights and I have to be careful about increasing my blood pressure quickly," she says.

She is sharing her story as a reminder to others not to ignore any symptoms they may be experiencing.

"Don't wait because you could be doing more damage," she says.

Coe has also become involved in fundraising to support research into her condition, joining the board of SCADresearch.com.

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"We're made up of survivors. Every year we do a five-kilometre walk across Australia to raise funds for research. This year the SCADaddle is on October 30. We've been doing them since 2016," she says.

"Sarah Ford is the president and founder, she suffered a heart attack around the same time as me. Sarah initiated support for the first Australian SCADaddle and SCAD Research Australia grew from there."

So far they have raised $146,000 for research into SCAD and The Sunbites Good Fuel Fund has this year awarded the organisation a $25,000 grant.

"The Grant is pretty massive for us, that's about 12 months of fundraising," she explains.

"Victor Chang is doing a lot of work around the genetic link and I also believe there is some research into how to best support survivors afterwards."

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World Heart Health Day is on September 29. Find out more by visiting the website.