A mom who thought she was experiencing flu symptoms but was really having a heart attack is opening up about her experience, and sharing a warning for other women.
Jenna Tanner, who first shared her story with “Business Insider,” sat down with “Good Morning America” to recount her close call.
“I thought I was coming down with the flu or the upper respiratory infection or something,” Tanner told “GMA.”
At first, Tanner dismissed seeking medical care. “I didn’t want to tell my husband because I knew he would say we have to go straight to the hospital. And I didn’t want to go spend any more time in waiting rooms at the doctor’s office, so I ignored it,” she said.
But ignoring her pain almost cost Tanner her life. After two days, she said, she passed out and when she regained consciousness, she knew instantly she was having a massive heart attack.
“It felt like an elephant sitting on me. I couldn’t move,” Tanner recalled. “I couldn’t move at all. It was very scary.”
Tanner had to undergo three surgeries and receive two stents during her treatment after the heart attack. But a year later, she said she’s doing better, and urged other women to pay attention to their own bodies and not ignore symptoms, like she had done.
See the full coverage: Mom opens up about heart attack she thought was the flu
