Heart Stories
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Thank you to our CWHHA members with lived experience who have shared their incredible stories.
Start the conversation about women's heart health. #HerHeartMatters
Marion Martell
Ottawa, ON
From complete heart block diagnosis to living with a pacemaker, Marion offers insight on symptoms, diagnosis, and life after pacemaker insertion.
Charlotte Girard
Otterburn Park, QC
Beginning with an emergency consult in ophthalmology and receiving a diagnosis of cardiac microvascular angina, Charlotte describes how beneficial it was for her to get group support early in her recovery process.
Donna Hart
Milton, ON
Donna describes her journey from end-stage heart failure to receiving a heart transplant and recovery. She has since participated in two Canadian Transplant Games!
Hope Sarfi
Richmond, BC
Confusing her symptoms for heartburn she ended up undergoing emergency open-heart surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting). Hope knows how important it is to pay attention to symptoms that "just don't feel right".
Nicole Nickerson
Middle Lahave, NS
Nicole is 38 years old and a mother of two, with coronary arterial disease with two prior non-STEMI heart attacks. She saw firsthand the inequity in women’s heart health in all levels of care and prevention.
Nadia Lappa
Ottawa, ON
Nadia's Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) journey began in 2016 after she gave birth to her third child. Feeling a surge of anxiety and the need to flee, she became violently ill and found herself laying on the floor of a public washroom.
Najah Adreak, MD, MSc
Vancouver, BC
In 2018, Najah attended a conference for SCAD. She listened to many patients share their heart health stories alongside presentations from experts in women’s heart health. She left with a heavy heart, thinking, "As doctors, we are failing our women patients intentionally".
Dima Dupéré
Ottawa, ON
Her name is Dima and she is 56 years old. March 3, 2021 was the day that changed her life. She went to the ER when the sore shoulder blade was accompanied by chest pain, and was told she had suffered a heart attack (an NSTEMI).
Jayneel Limbachia, MSc
London, ON
Jayneel is an avid health enthusiast and a strong proponent of preventive medicine. However, as a South Asian, he has found such notions of health to be largely unpopular amongst his community, which is riddled with diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
YOU have a powerful story to share.
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