• Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) is an under-diagnosed heart condition that can’t be predicted or prevented.
• SCAD can be fatal leading to heart failure, and may require a high-risk heart bypass surgery.
• Apart from being unpredictable, it is also especially dangerous for young women - It is the #1 cause of heart attack among young women who are pregnant or have recently given birth.

Kelly, Ashley, Sasha & wee Anastasia are doing a Wee Wonder Kilt Walk on 20th August to support the “Beat SCAD” charity.

This charity provides support to patients diagnosed with this mysterious condition, they use any raised money to further research into the causes and treatment of SCAD.

Kelly`s Story: On 7th May 2014, at 27 years old, I woke up in the early hours of the morning with pains in my chest. After calling NHS24 I was told to see my GP where I had an ECG and was blue-lighted to ARI. I was taken straight to the Cath Labs where an angiogram was performed and a stent inserted into my LAD artery. A few days later I started having pains in my back and chest and after further investigations, it showed I had developed multiple blood clots in my lungs (pulmonary embolism). I received excellent care during my 13-day stay at ARI where they did tests and diagnosed me with SCAD. I was young, healthy, never smoked, and rarely drank so wasn`t in any high-risk category for having a heart attack. I`m on daily (preventative) medication for life now. I`d like to raise more awareness of SCAD as it wasn`t something I`d heard of before it happened to me. 

Ashley`s Story: on 9th May 2022, I completed a run, my normal route at my normal pace. During my cooling down period I started to experience pain between my shoulder blades, I initially thought this was muscular. After a few minutes this spread to my chest and down my left arm. I was unable to stay standing up and started to feel nauseous. I shouted downstairs to my wife that something was not right. When she came upstairs, she said that these were heart attack symptoms and I need an ambulance.  The ambulance arrived quickly and administered GTN spray and aspirin, whilst running an ECG test. I was taken to A&E in Aberdeen and later transferred to Cardiac Ward. After 8 days in the hospital, Echo Cardiogram test, and Angiogram it was confirmed that I had suffered a heart attack caused by Spontaneous Cardiac Artery Dissection-SCAD.  I was 38 years old, non-smoker, and exercised regularly and I had never suffered any heart issues previously. During my time in the hospital, all the tests that were carried out found that I had no underlying heart conditions. I was just extremely unlucky to have suffered a SCAD. On the positive side, it was classed as a mild heart attack, I have not been prescribed any long-term medication and I have returned to exercising and more importantly my normal family life. However, I know that I have been fortunate and many people that have suffered SCAD have not been. I am taking part in the 2023 Kilt Walk to raise money and awareness so that we can better understand this condition and work towards better treatment, prevention and detection.  

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