A 37-year-old woman has been given a second chance by a revolutionary new drug which saved her life following a massive heart attack.
Alexandra Charlsworth, of Great Notley, is getting her life back to normal just three weeks after the scare.
She was saved after quick-thinking paramedics decided she could be thrombolysed - a powerful blood-thinning treatment which reduces damage to the heart muscle.
For every minute earlier it is given, the patient's life expectancy is raised by, on average, 11 days.
The mother-of-two said: "It started out as any normal Monday would, getting the children ready for school.
"Then I suddenly started sweating and felt a real pain in my chest. The only way I could describe it is that it was like having an elephant sitting on it.
"My husband Richard took the children to school, but the pain just kept getting worse."
In the end, Mrs Charlsworth called 999 and paramedic Pete Bumphrey soon realised she was having a heart attack, but was a good candidate to be thrombolysed - which saved her life.
Essex has been using the drug for about two years, with all paramedics trained in its use, and is the leading trust in the UK in the use of the drug outside hospital.
Published Wednesday August 4, 2004
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