A MUM nearly died while on a date when an artery in her heart burst before she could even begin her meal.
Stefani Anderson was given just a 3 per cent chance of survival after suffering the medical emergency minutes into her restaurant date.
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She’d gone for a meal with a man she was seeing at The Cheesecake Factory in Salt Lake City, Utah, US, in September when she began experiencing intense pain in her jaw.
The 39-year-old mistook the sensation for “lock-jaw” until the pain began spreading to her collarbone, growing worse by the minute.
The mum-of-three was writhing in agony when her date rang the emergency services for help.
Paramedics rushed Stefani to hospital where doctors discovered that her aortic aneurysm had ruptured – and she required emergency open-heart surgery.
Read more on heart health
Stefani, who lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, was told about the aneurysm in her heart 10 years prior but doctors were regularly monitoring it.
An aortic aneurysm is a bulge in the aorta, the body’s main artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.
When this ruptures, the layers of the aorta wall tear, allowing blood to leak out, which can prevent blood from circulating around the body.
Stefani, who works as a clinical educator, was actually due to have pre-planned surgery on her heart just nine days after her aneurysm ruptured.
Despite having just a 3 per cent survival rate, Stefani defied the odds and feels “lucky to be alive” after a successful operation to repair the artery.
Stefani said: “I was out for dinner with my boyfriend and I started getting really bad jaw pain and it was very hard to swallow.
“It was mainly just pain in my jaw and collarbone area. I’d ordered a Coke and just taken three sips, and the jaw pain had just got really intense.
“I didn’t know what was causing the pain. Within minutes, it went from mild jaw pain to really intense.
“I thought it could be lock-jaw or something but then I got the collarbone pain.
“I didn’t think it was my aneurysm as I didn’t have any of the symptoms they had warned me about.
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“I was always told if it were to ever rupture, I would experience a really bad headache and chest pain, but I didn’t experience any of that.”
Stefani was rushed to hospital where she was told that her aortic aneurysm had torn, and the blood supply had been cut off from her ear to ankle.
Doctors rushed Stefani into emergency open-heart surgery to repair the ascending aorta.
Stefani said: “I’ve been told that 3 per cent of people make it in this situation.
This is like a second chance at life. Everyone says I’m a walking miracle
Stefani Anderson
“I remember my mother brought my children to the hospital so I was telling them I was going to be okay and didn’t have time to focus on how scary it really was.
“I’d had 10 years to research what this was and I knew my chances weren’t great. The whole time I was thinking I was going to die and this was my last night.
“I never thought it was going to rupture, and even when it did, I thought no this can’t be happening, I’m having surgery in 10 days.”
‘Living in fear’
Stefani remained in hospital for 11 days and will need another surgery in the future to repair her descending aorta.
Stefani said her near-death experience has shifted her perspective on life after surviving the odds.
Stefani said: “I’m living in fear that this could happen again. I’ve been hospitalised twice since the surgery because of symptoms with my healing.
What is an aortic aneurysm?
An aneurysm is where the artery or vein swells to an abnormal size.
Once it reaches a certain size, there’s a higher chance of it bursting – meaning surgery is needed to repair it.
Three-quarters of aortic aneurysms occur in the abdomen, according to the British Heart Foundation.
A rupture may never occur but if it does, it is fatal in 80 per cent of cases.
Ruptured aortic aneurysms cause 5,000 deaths in the UK each year.
They are most common in men over 65 – they are responsible for 1 in 75 deaths of men in this age group.
A thoracic aortic aneurysm means it is higher up the aorta, in your chest. These are less common than the aortic kind, but equally dangerous if they rupture.
Common risk factors for aneurysms include smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as a family history of aneurysms.
Symptoms of abdominal aortic aneurysm
In most cases you won’t have any symptoms of an aneurysm, so an ultrasound test is the only way to find out if you have one.
But if an aneurysm becomes large it can sometimes cause a pulsating feeling in your abdomen, or persistent back pain.
If an aneurysm ruptures, it will cause internal bleeding.
This is a medical emergency and you should call 999 immediately if you or someone with you has any of these symptoms:
- A sudden severe pain in the abdomen, back or lower back area
- Feeling cold, clammy, sweaty, faint and breathless
- Loss of consciousness
Symptoms of a thoracic aortic aneurysm
Thoracic aortic aneurysms are often small and will grow slowly. Most of the time there are no symptoms which makes them hard to find.
As a thoracic aortic aneurysm grows, symptoms may include:
- Back pain
- Cough
- Weak, scratchy voice
- Shortness of breath
- Tenderness or pain in the chest
If a thoracic aortic aneurysm bursts, symptoms may include:
- Sharp, sudden pain in the upper back that spreads downward
- Pain in the chest, jaw, neck or arms
- Difficulty breathing
- Very low blood pressure
- Shortness of breath
- Trouble swallowing
- Loss of consciousness
Source: BHF
“Any weird feeling, I just go back to hospital now.
“I don’t think anyone thought I was at risk of the aneurysm rupturing. I feel so grateful to be alive. This is like a second chance at life.
“Everyone says I’m a walking miracle. My cardiologist said ‘congratulations on being alive’ because I shouldn’t be here. It’s given me a different perspective on life.”
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