Praise for Cork's First Responders: ‘I’d had three heart attacks in four days’

WHEN Anne Marie, a member of Newmarket Kanturk Cork Community First Responder Group, arrived at Julian Smith’s house in Kanturk, his life changed.

“When a first responder comes into your life, they change your life,” says Julian.

Anne Marie possibly saved his life.

“If she didn’t come when she did, I might not have survived,” agrees says Julian, aged 64, from Lismire, who is the co-owner of Catch Up Café in Kanturk.

Julian wasn’t aware that his life was in danger, even though there is a history of heart attacks in his family.

“My grandad died of a massive heart attack in 1972, when I was 12,” says Julian.

“He had survived the London bombings in World War II.

“I remember being home from school sick and my mum told grandad, who was looking for my dad, to sit down on the chair and she’d make him a coffee. 

As a kid, I remember grandad took a deep breath and died.

The pattern continued.

“My own dad suffered a heart attack at age 32 and died of a massive heart attack age 77, after having a double and triple heart bypass,” says Julian.

“Two weeks after his 65th birthday, my brother had a massive heart attack and he died two weeks later.”

The history of heart disease in the Smith family gets worse.

“Another brother who has a form of MS was in the swimming pool trying to improve his fitness when he had a massive heart attack at 67,” says Julian.

“He’s had a double heart by-pass.”

Did Julian ever think to have his heart checked out, given his forefathers and brothers’ history of heart trouble?

“Call it ignorance or complacency if you like,” replies Julian.

He says many people over 60 don’t even realise they are having a heart attack.

“This is true,” says Julian.

Having a heart attack is not like it appears on TV in Coronation Street or EastEnders.

“I didn’t fall on the floor clutching my chest in pain.”

What happened?

“It was a Thursday, April 5, and I was on the last day of my 12-night shifts,” explains Julian, a health and safety officer by trade.

“I was at a white-board meeting on site.

“It was cold and lashing rain. I had a warm jacket on. I felt like I was overheating so I took off my jacket and my helmet.

“I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I stepped outside, saying that I’d be back in a sec’.”

Julian didn’t think there was anything much the matter.

“I thought maybe it’s Covid or I’m getting the ‘flu,” he recalls. “And that I’d cool down in five or six minutes.”

His friend did notice something unusual though.

My friend said to me, It looks like there’s steam coming off the top of your head.

Julian decided to go home and rest up.

“Things are a bit of a blur until Sunday,” he says.

“I mowed the lawn after having breakfast at the Café. I remember my wife came to me and I said to her, ‘I may be in trouble’. I felt lethargic and tired.”

Sonya didn’t waste any time.

“She asked me if I was in any pain and I told her I thought my organs felt like they were ‘slipping’,” says Julian.

“I was watching Manchester United playing on TV. I enjoy a good game of football. It relaxes me. The team were losing, which was frustrating.”

Julian’s TV viewing was interrupted.

“I saw a flash of a green uniform through the door,” he says. “I didn’t know who was there.”

Anne Marie introduced herself.

“Anne Marie told me she was a First Responder with Kanturk/Newmarket. There are only four of them. She asked me how I was feeling.”

How was he feeling?

“I felt the life-force was drained out of me,” says Julian.

I felt I was getting weaker and weaker, and I didn’t know why. Anne-Marie kept talking to me and she told me that the ambulance would arrive in 20 minutes.

Julian is fortunate that he doesn’t “do stress or pressure”. He explains; “I try and control those things.”

But he can’t control everything.

“I am a typical man and can be stubborn,” says Julian.

Anne-Marie did her job.

“She kept me totally relaxed,” says Julian. “She was fantastic and so professional.

“I wanted to walk out to the ambulance myself, but Anne-Marie calmed me and comforted me all the time.

“She held on to me as we walked out together. I didn’t want to use a wheelchair. I knew help was at hand.”

Anne-Marie also lightened up the situation.

“She said to me, ‘You are a ‘VIP!’”

Fortunately, Julian did not become another statistic dying from a heart attack.

Burt he says: “If Anne-Marie hadn’t arrived when she did, I may not have survived. I could just be another statistic.”

He was another member of his family having a heart attack.

“At this stage, I still wasn’t aware that I was having a heart attack,” recalls Julian.

The ambulance was travelling very fast, and I could hear the siren.

“I recognised that I was in serious trouble. I was told my blood pressure was low.

“At the hospital, I was whisked upstairs and placed on a gurney and hooked up to machines.”

Julian discovered that he had heart disease on the right side of his heart.

“The right side of my heart was like a dripping tap,” he says.

“Within a short period of time, I needed to have a series of stents fitted on both sides of my heart.”

He had to take it easy.

I was told, this is your heart. If the stents move, you’re dead.

Julian who sets himself five goals a day and usually completes three of them, wasn’t used to doing nothing.

“I couldn’t even carry the shopping,” he says.

But he wasn’t going to lie down and die.

“I’m too busy living to worry about dying,” he says.

“Seemingly, I’d had three heart attacks between Thursday and Sunday.”

And he never copped that he suffered three heart attacks in four days?

“When I got up suddenly, I felt dizzy,” he says.

“I banged my chest three times and I’d eat a Mars bar.”

He has lived to tell the tale.

“Anne-Marie probably saved my life,” says Julian.

Has he got used to ‘taking life easy?’

“I’m not used to taking it easy,” he says.

I have no choice. I need to live longer.

He needs to do something else now.

“I need to do what I’m told.

“You need to know your body,” says Julian.

“I learned to react and not ignore any unusual signs or symptoms. Now I address any differences that I notice in my body.

“Go by what you body tells you. And trust your doctor.”

Julian is back to himself.

“I had two weeks of bed rest and after three days I was bored!” he says.

“I went back to work.”

He enjoys being part of the Catch-Up Café team.

“I enjoy the banter and the cráic there,” he says.

“Catch-Up Café is a community café, and we welcome everybody in.”

Julian is very grateful to the Newmarket Kanturk Cork Community First Responders.

“When they come to you, they change your life,” says Julian.

He loves life.

“I feel very blessed that I was fortunate to have a happy ending,” he adds.

For more information on Cork First Responder Community Groups call 087-2443584.