Ghislaine, 48 years old

On May 28, 2024, everything seemed perfect. It was a bright day, with an exciting shoot and a supportive team. As a communications director, I was doing what I love: communicating, creating, and sharing.

The only downside was that I felt short of breath throughout the day. Nothing alarming, I thought, just a little tired. I had no idea that my heart was silently sounding the alarm.

In the evening, when I got home, a dull pain settled in my stomach, accompanied by stiffness in my neck. I felt overwhelmed by intense fatigue, as if all my energy had been drained. As I lay down, the pain spread: sharp pains in my arms, tightness in my chest, stabbing pains in my stomach.

With a sensitive digestive system, I thought it was acid reflux and asked my husband for a pill. But the pain didn't go away. And at that precise moment, something clicked. I remembered that I follow the Agir pour le Cœur des Femmes and Claire Mounier-Vehier pages on social media.
I had read testimonials from women describing similar symptoms: diffuse pain, shortness of breath, unusual fatigue... These stories had made an impression on me, without me knowing that one day they would take on their full meaning for me. Thinking back on these stories, a little voice inside me whispered that what I was feeling was not normal.

That's when my husband, seeing the pain intensify and my face close up, had the reflex that saved my life: he called the emergency services. At the hospital, the electrocardiogram revealed heart weakness. Then troponin confirmed the diagnosis: I was having a heart attack. The shock was immense.
At 47 years old, with no cholesterol, no diabetes, no family history... how could this happen to me? The next day, a coronary angiogram revealed a spontaneous dissection of a coronary artery—a rare condition that mainly affects active women who are often exhausted and sometimes appear to be in perfect health. I spent ten days in intensive care, then a week in cardiology.
During my hospitalization, it all came back to me: the accumulated fatigue, the stress, the shortness of breath, the stiffness in my neck, that feeling of being "drained" for weeks... So many signs that I ignored, as many women do, out of habit, out of duty, out of strength.

My heart, however, was left unscathed. But this ordeal changed me profoundly. I learned to listen to myself, to slow down, to breathe. I took up walking, dancing, and yoga again. I conquered my fear and regained my confidence. Above all, I understood that loving life also means taking care of yourself.

Today, I remain passionate—about my job, the projects I lead, the people I love. It's in my nature. I don't know how to do things halfway or live life in slow motion. But now I know how to recognize the signs. I know that health is non-negotiable, even for the most passionate among us.

So if I'm sharing my story, it's to warn all women. Listen to yourselves. Never dismiss pain, unusual fatigue, or unexplained discomfort. Because the warning signs of a heart attack in women are often subtle: stomach pain, neck stiffness, shortness of breath, abnormal fatigue...

That day, my heart didn't break. It simply spoke to me in a different way. And since then, I've learned to listen to it—really listen. ❤️