HEART MATTERS
“MY HEART ATTACK MADE ME LOOK AFTER MYSELF - NOW I FEEL GREAT”
Taxi driver Sean Moran has changed his life since he had a heart attack. He tells the British Heart Foundation how he now feels better than ever.
When cabbie Sean Moran had his heart attack at the age of 40, his first thoughts were that he was going to die. But having got back on his feet, he says he was “determined to change my life”. Sean has done just that, by becoming more active, eating healthily, losing weight and cutting back his working hours. Now he says: “I am fitter than I have ever been.”
The father-of-four from Derry was at work driving his taxi when he felt a crushing pain in his chest and shooting pains in his arm. Not realising what the problem was, he drove home and told his wife, who called the doctors’ surgery. Staff explained that he needed an ambulance straight away. “When the paramedics told me I was having a heart attack I started panicking,” says Sean. “I thought I was going to die, or that I would never be able to work again.”
Once in hospital, Sean had an angioplasty and stent procedure to unblock his coronary artery. Although he felt better physically, he was struggling to deal with the emotional impact of his heart attack. He says: “All I thought about was dying young. I thought ‘I am going to have another one in a couple of weeks’; ‘How long does a stent last?’ All these things were going through my head.”
UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE
It was cardiac rehabilitation that put Sean’s fears to rest, and made him realise that he needed to change his lifestyle. “Out of my cardiac rehab class of eight people, three of us were taxi drivers,” he says. “They told us how a sedentary lifestyle can contribute to your risk of heart disease.” Sean realised that this
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applied to him – and that there were other unhealthy habits that went along with his job.
“I was working long hours, usually about 70 hours a week. I was afraid to stop working for an hour because I thought I might miss out on a pound or two. You’re sitting down all day. You often eat on the go - things like bacon and sausage rolls, just horrible food. And I wasn’t doing any exercise to burn it off. I used to be a smoker too, although I had stopped on my 40th birthday.”
PEDAL POWER
At the rehab sessions, Sean started physical activity, gradually increasing the amount. By the end, he found he was enjoying it and decided to take up cycling. Before the heart attack, he didn’t even own a bike, but soon Sean became addicted. He says: “I love it! I think it is the scenery, the fresh air, getting out and about. I seem to have more energy afterwards and I feel great.”
Sean set a target to do Lap the Lough, a 90-mile bike ride, in August last year – a year after his heart attack. He says: “I built up to it by doing my ten to 15-mile rides during the week, plus I went out on longer rides with my brother at weekends. Doing the event was great, especially chatting to some of the other people taking part. I was a bit tired afterwards but I felt brilliant, like I had achieved something.”
But he didn’t stop there. Sean still cycles four times a week, covering 20 to 25 miles each time. He says: “I used to look at cyclists in Lycra and think I would never be one of them. Now I have got all the kit and have just sent away for some more – including a BHF cycling top from the online gift shop.”
NEW OUTLOOK
Sean, now 42, has changed his diet too. He eats more fish, chicken and vegetables, reads food labels to make healthier choices and buys reduced-salt options. “A lot of people think you’ll be really
JUNE 2023 PHTM
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