A Sunshine Coast cyclist who suffered a heart attack while training for a mammoth event has thanked the cardiac team who helped him get back on the bike and across the finish line just months later.
Cyclist Brad Coats’ heart attack struck just two days before Christmas last year.
He was cycling in the Noosa hinterland, on his first training session of the season, with his sights set on an upcoming long-distance event.
“I just got a pain, I would say tightness, along the front of my chest, so I thought I’d ride to the closest ambulance station which I knew was just over the hill,” Brad recalled.
The Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics checked him out and quickly transported him to Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
“I couldn’t believe it - my age, and that this would be happening, and it feels nothing like what everybody says it felt like,” he said.
Cardiology Clinical Nurse Consultant Lee-Anne Gladwin said Brad needed urgent attention when he arrived at SCUH.
“The interventional side of what was required was done very quickly and he actually recovered very quickly after that, and we were able to get him home in a timely manner as well, which was great for his family being Christmas,” Lee-Anne said.
After he gradually returned to exercise, he stayed committed to riding the 450 kilometre Tour de Cure event from Mission Beach to Port Douglas.
Remarkably he completed it, around five months after his heart attack, despite having his training time cut down.
Brad recently returned to SCUH, in much higher spirits, to say thank you to the cardiac team who got him through his recovery. He also presented them with his jersey from the ride, so it can be displayed in the cardiac unit to inspire other patients.
“People can use my story to show that even in the darkest time of their lives, that things can turn around and be better off,” Brad said.
“And I think people should be thanked for the effort and the time they spend with patients.”
Lee-Anne said it was heart-warming to meet Brad again in better circumstances.
“Because we don’t always get to hear what happens to our patients when they leave hospital,” she said.
“So hearing such a positive story about what he’s been able to achieve since he’s been discharged from cardiology has been amazing and it’s been a positive story from his perspective and definitely for us.”
“To do what he’s been able to do has been amazing.”