‘I’m lucky to be alive’, says Joburg woman after surviving ‘widow-maker’ heart attack

Women often don’t experience chest pains before a heart attack and can misinterpret the signs until it may be too late

21 July 2023 - 07:00

When Elana Malgas, 43, of Randburg, Gauteng, started experiencing ongoing pain in her shoulder she brushed it aside as tension from the long hours spent working at her laptop every day. It later turned out the pain was indicative of a pending heart attack, known as an anterior stemi and popularly called the “widow-maker” as it occurs in the largest coronary artery responsible for blood supply and mainly attacks men. ..

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