A heart attack survivor from this province is stressing that women need to take better care of themselves—as many will put their own health on the back burner.

Natasha Pinsent had a heart attack three years ago at the age of 42.

She felt some lingering pain in her collar bone for a couple of months, but shrugged it off as just a shortness of breath. Pinsent was climbing a set of stairs, and felt a pinch in the area of her heart that would come and go. It was odd enough that she decided to drive herself to the hospital, where she learned that she was having a heart attack.

She says she was in disbelief.

Today, the Heart & Stroke Foundation released the 2020 Heart & Stroke Spotlight on Women: A fighting chance.

The vast majority of research into heart disease and stroke is based on men, however Pinsent says women won’t often show the same symptoms of a heart attack.

She says people will often picture the symptoms shown on television, but that’s not really what women experience. Pinsent adds that women will sometimes go through pains in their arms and jaw, while men often do not.

At the end of the day, Pinsent hopes her story will start a discussion.

She feels a lot of women will feel that something is wrong, or are stressed, and pawn it off as nothing. Many women do not pay attention to their own health, and Pinsent encourages women to take care of themselves, be an advocate, and go to the hospital.