A mother who made headlines after surviving a heart attack has shared for the first time what she saw while fighting for her life. (Image: Jenna Tanner/SWNS)
A mum miraculously survived a “widowmaker” heart attack, initially mistaking the life-threatening symptoms for mere “flu”. She later shared her near-death experience, describing it as akin to “floating through space”.
Jenna Tanner, 49, a stay-at-home mother from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA, had been battling shortness of breath and chest discomfort for days but brushed it off as flu-like symptoms, following her children’s recent bout with the illness. This misjudgment nearly cost her life when she lost consciousness and suffered cardiac arrest.
During the harrowing ordeal, Jenna encountered a profound out-of-body experience, imagining herself amidst stars and a vibrant nebula while fighting for survival over two hours post-heart attack, reports the Mirror.
She recounted being “enveloped in blackness” before drifting through an astral landscape. “I remember kind of just floating through this space – like a space universe – and I was getting closer to what I would describe as a nebula,” Tanner detailed.
“There was a big cloud of colours moving that was changing. Everything was vivid stars. I was just floating peacefully.” The mother of three, hailed by medics as a “miracle patient”, endured a “widowmaker” heart attack caused by a complete blockage in her left anterior descending artery.
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The vision, complete with stars and colourful nebula, came during the two hours she lay incapacitated from a massive heart atta (Image: Jenna Tanner/SWNS)
The incident, which has a 12% survival rate when it strikes outside of hospital walls, occurred while she was by herself at home following her children’s departure for school. Tanner and her spouse, Ryan, 51, an electrician by trade, are parents to three kids: Mazie, 20, Avery, 17, and Brady, 13.
“Sometime after 11am that morning, I texted my husband,” she recounted. “My intention was to text him that I thought I might be sick or coming down with something.”
However, instead of seeking immediate medical help, Tanner dedicated her efforts to tidying up her residence on March 9, 2022. As she entered her home office, she experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure and took to the floor to avert passing out.
Upon regaining consciousness, Tanner vividly described being “shot back towards my body” through what appeared to be “a tube of lightning” then witnessing her own form on the ground and re-entering it accompanied by “instant pain.”
After a gruelling recovery marked by PTSD and lifestyle changes, Tanner is now thriving and writing a memoir about the life-altering event (Image: Jenna Tanner/SWNS)
She expressed: “It felt like an elephant had walked in and sat on my chest, and I knew instantly that I was having a heart attack.” With her mobile phone located in a different room, Tanner spent close to two hours alternating between consciousness and unconsciousness.
In moments of clarity, she contemplated her existence in a manner that caught her off guard. “Not once did I remember or relive any bad parts of life,” she declared. “Everything that I thought about was the connections I had made with people or places while I was alive.” She continued: “It was just all the good stuff.”
The thought of her son Brady coming home to find her lifeless spurred Tanner into action, dragging herself across the floor to reach her phone. After alerting her husband and dialling 911, she managed to unlock the front door just before collapsing, right as the emergency services arrived.
Jenna Tanner described being “enveloped in blackness” before floating through what looked like space (Image: Jenna Tanner/SWNS)
At the hospital, the severity of her situation was met with stunned silence from the medical team as they viewed the initial scan of her heart. Tanner recounted her cardiologist’s emotional admission: “In a 20-year career and over 4,000 surgeries, I’ve never seen anything like this. I didn’t even know people could survive this.”
Tanner remarked: “The fire department actually won an award for how quickly they came and got me to the hospital. I think it was under 13 minutes, which was record time.” She continued: “I got to go to their awards banquet the next year for that.”
Astonishingly, Tanner’s entire left heart had ceased functioning, yet she remained alive with only her right side working – a mystery to doctors. They fitted a pump inside her heart and placed a stent in her main artery, a procedure usually necessitating bypass surgery.
What is a ‘widowmaker’ heart attack?
A widowmaker heart attack, also known as an anterior STEMI or a blockage in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, is a severe cardiac event. It occurs when a key artery supplying blood to the heart becomes completely obstructed, cutting off oxygen to a substantial portion of the heart muscle, often resulting in death.
The American Heart Association has warned that survival rates for widowmaker heart attacks are alarmingly low, particularly when they occur outside of a hospital. Symptoms can range from chest pain and shortness of breath to pain radiating to the arms, back, or jaw, accompanied by nausea and sweating.
However, some people, especially women, may experience more subtle or unusual symptoms. Immediate treatment, such as angioplasty or clot-busting medications, is crucial to restore blood flow and minimise damage to the heart muscle.
In the case of a widowmaker heart attack, every second counts. Promptly unblocking the obstructed artery is essential to enhance survival prospects and limit long-term damage.