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Learn how your donation to BHF can help keep families together for many Christmases to come.
Neena’s story
Neena was 27 when she had a heart attack. Since then, she has been committed to raising awareness around the risks of heart attacks.
“In the 6 months after my heart attack I went through phases of sitting in my room in the dark. I just felt that my life was over in my twenties.”
In March 2013, Neena, then 27, had a heart attack. At the time, she was a regular gym goer and there was no history of heart disease in her family. In the 2 weeks before her heart attack, Neena had been experiencing recurring pain that she thought was indigestion. It was when she experienced pains that felt like ‘an elephant was sitting on her chest’ that her family called an ambulance. She was taken to hospital, where doctors discovered she was having a heart attack and started emergency treatment.
After the heart attack Neena experienced PTSD, and her self-esteem plummeted. After not recognising herself in holiday snaps, she decided it was time to take back control of her life.
Neena began a journey to peak physical fitness to improve her mental health and inspire others. She is committed to raising awareness around the risks of heart attacks. Now she has an Instagram account dedicated to raising awareness to around heart attacks with over 10,000 followers.
Developing new ways to spot those at the highest risk of having a heart attack
Two weeks before her heart attack, Neena had pain she dismissed as indigestion — early warning signs she didn’t recognise. With support from British Heart Foundation (BHF), Professor Nick Mills and his team are developing tools to help detect heart attacks before they happen.
One project combines digital health data, a finger-prick blood test, and community heart monitoring to identify those at risk sooner. This could help people like Neena have investigations and treatment to help prevent a heart attack from happening in the future.
Since BHF was established, the number of people who die each year from cardiovascular disease in the UK has fallen by nearly a half. But there's still work to be done. Today, there are over 7.6 million people living with cardiovascular disease in the UK.
People like Bea, Macy, Monty, and Neena. People who want to have more Christmases with their families. Your donation could help make that a reality.
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