It was a few days before Christmas in 2015. Patti Mersereau-Leblanc did a three-mile run, went grocery shopping and roasted vegetables for a potluck that evening at her Winnipeg church. Then, as she was carrying her crockpot to the car before the church service, Patti felt a strange heaviness in her chest and a sharp pain in her chin.

Things got worse during the two-minute drive. “It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest,” recalls Patti, then 49. “I couldn't get a big breath. I remember I wanted to saw my chin off because it hurt so bad.” 

Despite the pain, Patti didn’t believe that she was having a heart attack. After all, she was a long-time runner training for her first ultra-marathon, and carefully watched what she ate. Then, in the church parking lot, her arm began to tingle. She phoned her husband, Dennis.

“I think I’m having a heart attack. You need to call 9-1-1. I’ll be home in one minute.”

Listen to the rest of Patti's story and how you can notice signs of heart attack in women.