When my dad had a heart attack .....

My dad had a heart attack in late May. Thankfully dad is okay now.  He’s at home and every day he gets a little stronger. Dad’s heart attack happened at work which was the best thing as he was only ten minutes away from the hospital. He also had quick thinking colleagues who were trained in first aid. They gave him oxygen, called the ambulance and put him a wheelchair. We didn’t know until later that it was a heart attack. We all thought that dad was having an asthma attack because he suffers from severe asthma.

It’s important to react quickly to heart attacks because it is life threatening. If dad had been at home, the closest hospital is thirty minutes away and it’s pretty crummy in my opinion. Heart attacks stop oxygen from getting to your brain so it can cause paralysis but fortunately my dad has full use of all his limbs. My grandpa lost the use of an arm after his heart attack years ago. I think the oxygen that dad got from his colleagues helped out and the fact that he was so close to the hospital.

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Dad was in the hospital for a week and a half and we mainly spent that time visiting him. It was a learning curve for all of us while dad was in hospital, especially for my mum and I. We had to handle all the errands that dad usually did and that was especially daunting for mum as she never had to do that before. I think that mum was overwhelmed by the idea that dad could have died and she would have to make her own way in the world.

Dad is taking a break from work to recover from the ordeal. It is been good for him to stay at home as he has really needed a break. He works too hard.