Utah Mom, 33, Has Heart Attack After Walking on Treadmill, 4-Year-Old Son Told His Dad She Was 'Sleeping'

• Utah mother of two Justine Carter, 33, collapsed after jogging on a treadmill – and was found unconscious in the bathroom by her husband Kevin and mother-in-law Teresa
• Her heart stopped due to a ruptured artery in her heart, called spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).
• The tear got bigger after she was discharged, causing Justine to have a second heart attack—and open-heart surgery

A Utah mother of two suffered a heart attack after exercising on a treadmill — and now she’s speaking out about the rare condition that doctors believe caused her emergency.

Justine Carter, 33, was exercising on the treadmill last May for 12 minutes when she started feeling short of breath, she told Fox News.

The resident of Santaquin, Utah, began to feel pain shooting from her back to her chest.

She was filming her workout for social media, according to a video shared by local affiliate Fox News 13. Sounding out of breath, Justine says in the video, “That was not a good idea. I should have listened to my body.”

“Ooh, I don’t feel good,” she says in the clip. As her husband Kevin told the newspaper, when Justine called him on the phone, he could hear her vomiting.

He then said she stopped talking and their son Tucker, 4, told him she was “sleeping.”

Justin and Kevin Carter.

The Carter family

Triathlete, 38, survives ‘Widow Maker’ heart attack that left him ‘dead for several minutes’ during race

Kevin rushed home, accompanied by his mother Teresa – where they found Justine having a seizure in the bathroom, barely breathing.

That’s when Justine’s heart stopped, and Teresa—who is a nurse at HCA Healthcare Mountain View Hospital in Payson—performed CPR for 25 minutes until paramedics arrived.

“The next thing I remember, I woke up in the hospital,” Justine told Fox News. “She had what we call a ‘tombstone rhythm’ on the monitor, which tells us that she had a heart attack and that her heart muscle was not getting enough oxygen,” Teresa told Fox News.

Utah mom Justine Carter suffered a heart attack after exercising on a treadmill.

The Carter family

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Justine was taken to HCA Healthcare Mountain View Hospital, where doctors determined she had a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD).

It most commonly affects women in their 40s and 50s, according to the Mayo Clinic, and is “an emergency condition that occurs when the wall of a heart artery ruptures.”

Justin Carter (33) suffered a heart attack after exercising on a treadmill.

The Carter family

It can “slow or block blood flow to the heart, causing a heart attack, heart rhythm problems, or sudden death.”

People who have SCAD “do not have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes,” and the cause is unknown.

Mom, 40, had a heart attack – this unusual symptom led to her diagnosis

Justine said she had no warning signs that day, but she felt sick. “I felt like I had a low energy level that day and I didn’t feel well – but I thought it was because it was winter and cloudy outside,” she told the newspaper.

A week later, Justine had another heart attack. This time, she needed open-heart surgery to repair the crack in her heart, which had grown in size in the meantime.

Today, he is still recovering from emergencies. Although she can take her dog for a walk, she has not yet been cleared to resume cardio-intensive activities such as hiking or running.

The Carter family meets the first responders who saved her life.

The Carter family

“I was really tired for the first two weeks, and then my energy level started to rise,” she told the newspaper. “Now I can go the whole day without needing a nap.”

She and her mother-in-law Teresa talk about the importance of the CPR that kept Justine alive while her heart was stopped.

“Even for people who aren’t doctors, it’s a very valuable skill,” Teresa said. “You will most likely be able to help someone you love.”

To find a CPR hour near you, visit the searchable American Red Cross catalog here.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education