Four years ago, Jerry Vsetula had no idea he was having a heart attack.
Thankfully, as he arrived at work in the morning, his co-worker at the Guelph Superior Courthouse, Special Constable Angela Mitchell, noticed something was very off, “he was out of breath, he couldn’t talk, he was flushed.”
“I started to get really tired, no idea why … started breathing heavy,” Vsetula explained.
Mitchell couldn't help but notice Vsetula was showing all the classic signs of heart trouble.
“I am starting to get concerned at this point, and I said, ‘Jerry I think we should go to the hospital.’ And he said, ‘No, I am fine, I am fine, I am not going anywhere. I am going to work.’”
Vsetula wasn't convinced that he needed to go to the hospital, but Mitchell was.
“So we had this little standoff,” Mitchell explained.
Adding that she finally did convince him, given one requirement.
“Sure, I’ll go, but please don't tell my wife,” Vsetula said, worried he would be causing a fuss for something he didn’t think would be a big deal.
He said he thought, “I’ll be home in an hour, and I’ll be fine.”
So Mitchell drove her co-worker to the hospital and watched to make sure he entered the Emergency Room before returning to work and against his wishes, called his wife.
“Kudo's to the hospital, they got me in right away, and within an hour they already said, “'you're having a heart attack," Vsetula explained.
He ended up having double bypass surgery.
“I was pushing 70, and I was blind to the fact that I was so tired. I just thought it was age.”
Vsetula has since retired from his position as a court service officer, but the two, and their families, remain close.
As a thank you, he nominated Mitchell to be the Ontario Police Association's Hero of the Year.
Vsetula is extremely happy Mitchell was around when his symptoms worsened, because, “she's stubborn … she insisted, and I am glad she did.”
Mitchell won runner-up for the award and will be honoured at a ceremony at the Guelph Police Service Headquarters next week.
“I am just happy that he's healthy, and if other people can learn from this, that would be great, that would be wonderful,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell credits her mandatory and repetitive First Aid and CPR training through the Guelph Police Service for teaching her the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEART TROUBLE
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, someone in Canada experiences a heart attack or stroke, every five minutes.
“Minutes matter, and so it is absolutely important to get to care as quickly as possible,” Director of Health Policy and Systems through Ontario and Nunavut with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Liz Scanlon said.
Scanlon says everyone should learn the signs of a heart attack because you never know when you might need it.
Classic signs of heart trouble are dizziness, breathlessness, sweatiness, red face, and sometimes nausea and vomiting.
Women have been known to experience the classic symptoms, as well as other ones.
For example, women also typically have pain in their back, lower chest and or upper abdomen.
Scanlon said especially during the peak of the pandemic, “we are seeing people enter into the health care system in more acute states of illness.”
As people avoided public spaces, did not have access to healthcare or weren’t able to see a doctor for whatever reason, “people are getting sicker before they get into health care.”
So Scanlon is reminding everyone, “to really pay attention to your own health conditions.”
“Changes in symptoms, or anything that is presenting differently,” is a good reason to check in with a primary care provider she said.
