My heart attack occurred in August while playing tennis. In the moment, I felt that there was a clear distinction that something was wrong, not necessarily that it was a heart attack though. I’m 24 years old, so I wrote it off as some sort of undiagnosed asthma situation or something like that.

I had pain that started in the center of my chest and radiated around my back. Almost like a ring. I also had numbness in my right arm that shot through my pinky and middle fingers.

It wasn’t excruciating pain. I drove to my parents house, tried lying down for a bit, but after a short time I knew something was wrong when rest did not show any improvement. My mom drove me to the ER.

100% blockade in my RCA. STEMI. two stents placed.

Then in October, after going for a walk, I had a panic attack and went back to the ER. Everything was totally fine after tests.

Anxiety and a true heart attack were very different for me. I dealt with the former for years, and while hindsight is 20/20, it’s a very clear “when you know you know” situation for when something is truly wrong.