Couple share home video to show what a heart attack can look like
An Arizona couple are sharing a home video to raise awareness of what a heart attack can look like.
Michelle Goss shared what she and her husband Jeff Goss went through in home video footage posted to TikTok, which has quickly gone viral, picking up over 5 million views.
The Gosses were heading out from their home to an Arizona Cardinals game last September when Jeff Goss started feeling uncomfortable.
The couple's home surveillance camera caught the unexpected moment.
"Does it feel like food stuck, or does it feel like…" Michelle Goss starts to ask her husband before he stumbles, and she instructs him to sit down on their living room couch.
"He just kept saying, 'I feel really nauseous. I feel really nauseous,'" Michelle Goss recalled to "Good Morning America," adding that her husband said his chest hurt.
Jeff Goss, who was 53 at the time, recalls starting to feel "clammy" but said he didn't think much of the situation at first.
"I didn't think it was anything serious at all. I really didn't," the 54-year-old said. "And then, even after the fire department got there, I really didn't think it was that serious. I thought this was a mistake that we called you, until right when I got to the ambulance, that's when it really, really got bad."
Michelle Goss said when she noticed her husband started to look scared, she started to feel fearful as well.
"And then all of a sudden his color just turned gray," Michelle Goss continued. "I've never seen that color in a human before."
Doctors later informed the couple that Jeff Goss experienced a widow-maker, one of the most deadly kinds of heart attacks, where a major artery supplying blood to the heart gets blocked. It is a life-threatening condition.
After first responders took Jeff Goss to a local hospital, he underwent a procedure to open a blocked artery. The couple said doctors told them if they had waited another 10 minutes, Jeff Goss may not have survived the heart attack.
ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Tara Narula said symptoms of a heart attack can be subtle and easily dismissed as something else, so it's important to recognize a heart attack's warning signs in order to "act fast and save a life."
What are the symptoms of a heart attack?
There are multiple signs someone may be having a heart attack. They include:
- Chest discomfort
- Jaw, shoulder, back pain
- Nausea
- Cold sweat
- Shortness of breath
- Left arm numbness/tingling
Narula noted that response time is especially critical during a heart attack, because when heart cells die, they don't regenerate, and there is not much time to save cells from dying.
The Gosses said they hope by sharing Jeff Goss' experience, they can save more lives.
"Just call. Don't go lay down and rest. Don't hesitate," Michelle Goss said. "Just make the call, and just let them come check you at least."
