Westmeath man praises health system following prompt treatment for heart attack

(Above) Patrick Doyle.

A Westmeath resident has expressed his gratitude to the local health system after recently surviving a heart attack.

Patrick Doyle, from Leixlip but living in Monksland, had a heart attack in early March just before he was about to get into his car.

“I had just got up for work and everything was normal,” Pat told the Westmeath Independent.

“I had no warning signs and I felt okay. I hopped into the car then at 9.30am and I felt something in my chest that I hadn’t felt before.

“My wife Tríona arrived home after just dropping our son off in school and I rolled down the window and said that I wasn’t feeling good.”

Pat went inside to have a glass of water, but he says he knew something wasn’t right.

“I wasn’t in pain at that stage, but I just knew something was wrong – it’s hard to explain exactly why.

“Tríona brought me down to Monksland Medical Centre and I said to the lady at reception that there was tightness in my chest. They were doing vaccines at the time, but they brought be down to the nurses’ station and then the whole process kicked off.”

An ECG was soon carried out which showed that Pat was in the early stages of a heart attack.

“The good thing was that the heart attack hadn’t started until I was in the nurses’ station,” Pat said.

“I really have to thank the staff in there, because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. If anybody walked into the room they wouldn’t have known I was having a heart attack from how calm they were. They were that good.”

An ambulance was called and Pat was brought to Custume Barracks where he was then airlifted to UCHG.

“I was in Galway in 20 minutes, which is remarkable. The ECG readings had been relayed to Galway so they knew what was coming and I didn’t have to go into A&E. Instead I went straight into the CAT lab where they put three stents in.

“It was a semi-heart attack, and you really have a limited amount of time to get treatment. The pain was excruciating – I really wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

Despite the ordeal, Pat says that throughout it all he felt that he was going to be okay.

“From arriving to the medical centre to arriving in Galway, I always felt that I was being carried along and that there was a process in place. Once I got into the ambulance I really just felt that I was going to be alright, and the intervention the centre, the ambulance and the air ambulance was just second to none.

“Everybody from A to Z was phenomenal. I spent one night in Galway and then three nights in Portiuncula and they were brilliant there as well.”

While recovery is slightly slower as a result of certain departments being closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, Pat is on the mend and urges people, particularly men, not to ignore important signs that may present themselves.

“One of the big problems right now is that cardiac rehab isn’t open because of the pandemic, but I have cardiac nurses checking in on me and I get my blood pressure monitored at Monksland Medical Centre,” he said. “Recovery is a little slower than normal.”

“A big problem is men in their mid-40s or 50s don’t read the signs. They might have a pain in their chest and ignore it, but I was lucky that I reacted as quickly as I did. I was meant to have a blood test four days later, so who knows if that would have shown something important.”

Regarding the air ambulance service, Pat says that you never truly take in the work that they carry out until you are in the helicopter.

“The air ambulance is always struggling for funding, but I wouldn’t be here only for them. The system works.

“I often hear the air ambulance flying around, but it’s only when you’re in it and availing of the service that you realise how important it is. It’s running every day and has access to areas that medics normally couldn’t get to. It’s a great service and we really need to keep it going.

“There was a positive outcome in this case, which people don’t hear enough of. It was nice to be able to walk back into the medical centre and thank them all.”