Heart attacks are one of the most life-threatening medical events an adult can face, yet for the thousands of Britons living with undiagnosed heart conditions, they remain a legitimate risk.
And while blocked arteries are perhaps the most familiar culprit, not every case is caused by a vascular obstruction.
Stacey, who documents her life as a running, hockey-playing mother under the handle @runninghockeymum, experienced a heart attack five years ago as a result of a coronary artery spasm.
“I want you to know what it felt like," she told followers on her TikTok channel. “There was a tightness in my chest that I have never felt before.
Stacey said the medical event could happen again
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“I was just cleaning the house, I was changing the bedsheets, and then I felt a little light-headed.
“Then I felt it go down my arm, it radiated down my arm, and I thought ‘that doesn’t seem right', and then it went into my jaw, pretty much immediately.
“So I called a friend, and the friend’s husband said you need to call 911 immediately, and I thought this had to be a joke.
“I did call 911, but the cop down the street got to me first. He asked if I was sure it wasn’t anxiety - it was not anxiety.
"The ambulance showed up, and the paramedics hooked me up — but the readings weren't showing anything. 'Why don't you take this nitroglycerin anyway,' they said, and put me in the back.
"At the hospital, I was waiting in the hallway. They ran a couple of tests. Then the doctor came up to me: 'You're actively having a heart attack.'"
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The attack, she explained, was not caused by blocked arteries — but by a coronary artery spasm. This distinction brings its own anxiety, as it could strike again.
"It's most likely to happen at rest," she said. "I came out of it, but it was very, very scary — and it messed with my head for a long time. It doesn't matter how fit you are. It could still happen to you, even if you take care of yourself."
Coronary artery spasms remain largely undiagnosed
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According to the British Heart Foundation, a coronary artery spasm triggers chest pain by causing the artery walls to suddenly constrict — most often set off by a release of chemicals in the body, although spasms can also stem from areas of inflammation within the blood vessel wall.
It is a condition, notes Professor Colin Berry of the British Heart Foundation, that remains largely undiagnosed.
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