Athlete Reveals Common 'Widow Maker' Heart Attack Symptom You Might Be Ignoring
A 49-year-old fitness aficionado and self-described “picture of health” described to Today the common symptom of a widow maker heart attack that he ignored for almost one year.
Chris Prewitt, of Avon Lake, OH, exercises frequently, often taking on rigorous cardio or Cross Fit regimens. He’s participated in “hundreds of 5Ks” and two marathons throughout his life, abstains from drugs and alcohol, prioritizes sleep, and subsists on a healthy diet.
On December 27, 2023, Prewitt had just finished a relatively simple workout when he began noticing some worrisome signs. “My triceps and my biceps and my chest were all incredibly sore,” he recalled.
Prewitt’s personal trainer consulted a sports medicine doctor, and the two agreed that Prewitt should immediately seek medical attention. His wife, Meredith, arrived with the couple’s two children to transport Prewitt, but in her haste, she accidentally missed the freeway exit for the urgent care center. At this point, she noticed her husband was cold and had turned grey, so she brought him to a nearby emergency room.
“She missed the exit for the urgent care and gets off the highway, and I’m slumped over in my seat,” Prewitt recalled. “She’d never seen anyone this gray, and she grabbed my hand. It was ice cold. My heart had stopped.”
He continued of the dramatic scene: “She ran three red lights and pulled over to the ER and ran inside. A bunch of health care workers came out, pulled me out of the car, brought me back to work on me.”
Doctors worked on Prewitt for 20 minutes, applying CPR and numerous defibrillator shocks. They discovered he “had one single artery that was completely blocked. The artery is the left anterior descending artery,” he explained, otherwise known as “the widow maker.”
Prewitt and his family were frankly astonished by his unexpected medical emergency. “I am often thought of as a picture of health,” he said. “I do all the things you’re supposed to do.” He’d been experiencing subtle symptoms for the best part of a year before his heart attack, but chalked it up to the normal effects of aging.
“I didn’t know if this is what (nearing) 50 (felt) like,” Prewitt said candidly. “I’ve got two young boys who are nine and six, and was finding myself at the end of my workday a little tired and sometimes having to need a break before we go play baseball or kick a soccer ball around the yard.”
Emad Nukta, a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic, told Today that a fair number of patients experience subtle symptoms, like fatigue, similar to what Prewitt went through.
“About 30 percent of patients don’t have any previous symptoms, but they suddenly drop dead,” Nukta explained. “We see that mostly with the younger patients rather than the older patients, and that’s where the term ‘widow maker’ comes from.”
Nukta also called the perception of a heart attack causing a noticeable, singular pain is “a major misconception. They think pain is something like real burning or severe pain,” he explained. “But chest pain is really not that severe pain. It’s uneasy, pressure-like pain—squeezing pain.”
Experts say one should be on the lookout for any prolonged feelings of chest or arm pain, or a feeling similar to pervasive indigestion.
Prewitt, by all accounts, has made an astonishing recovery. 12 weeks after his cardiac event, “I was running nine-minute miles for a good distance,” he boasted. “I have no restrictions. A month ago, I was in Universal (Studios) with my wife and my boys and rode some roller coasters. I continue to run and lift weights.”
However, he reiterates the importance of knowing one’s family history. Had Prewitt known his, he may have been able to avoid his near-fatal heart attack. “My lesson to all the people I’ve told this to is that you might think that you’re doing all the right things, but if you are unaware of your genetic history, you need to find out and also let your general practitioner know,” he said.