Heart disease kills nearly twice as many women in Northern Ireland as female related cancers combined, a charity has warned.
The condition is one of the leading causes of female deaths in the north, more than breast, cervix, uterus, and ovary cancers put together.
The danger it poses to women has led to health charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) launch its 'Her Heart' campaign, which is being supported by the family of a Co Antrim woman (46), who died after suffering a heart attack on holiday in Florida.
Veronica Shaw's daughter Chloe-Amber and sister Louise McGreevy have spoken about the devastating impact that heart-related conditions can have on women.
“Mum felt a lot of heaviness in her legs that day when we were on holiday, but we were out walking around all day, so we thought nothing of it," said Chloe-Amber.
"She had arm pain as well, but at the time I wouldn’t have associated these signs with a cardiac arrest.
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"Why would we have thought that someone of mum’s age, who had just been told by a medical professional she was ok, would be about to have a cardiac arrest?"
Louise said the family "have a strong family history of heart problems", but Veronica underwent tests before the holiday and was told she was fine.
“When Veronica collapsed, we tried so desperately to save her," she said.
"I am CPR trained and my son and I both carried out the CPR.
"Films and TV programmes often show that if you do CPR everything will be ok, and the person will survive, but sadly that isn’t always the case."
Despite their loss, Chloe-Amber and Louise are helping raise heart health awareness in Veronica’s memory, especially amongst women.
"We are backing Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s Her Heart campaign because if Veronica had this opportunity she would support it, and we don’t want other families to go through losing a daughter, a sister, a mother unnecessarily in the same way we have," said Louise.
"As women, we often take so much care of our outward appearance, when really, we should be looking more at our physical health inside.
“I have had many friends and family who have suffered from cancer – people are always very aware of cancer and of course that is vitally important. But when I say to them, ‘Do you know that more women die from heart disease?’ they are completely shocked.
"The awareness just isn’t there and that’s what we want to try and help change through this campaign.”
Veronica Shaw tragically passed away whilst on holiday in Florida in 2018, aged just 46 after a cardiac arrest.
— Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (@nichstweet) September 21, 2023
Veronica’s daughter, Chloe-Amber, and sister, Louise McGreevy, are supporting our Her Heart campaign in memory of their mum and sister.
➡️https://t.co/cnoJAse2f1 pic.twitter.com/MzlA6L18Tv
Chloe-Amber added: “Before mum passed away, I never thought that things like feeling sick, being short of breath, or arm, neck, jaw, back or stomach pain could be linked to your heart.
"I want to put these signs on people’s radars, so they are aware these could be linked to their heart, and they should get checked out by a medical professional.
"There are so many people out there who don’t know the signs of a potential heart issue but if they, or someone they know, sees the Her Heart campaign, and learns about the risks and signs, that could have a big impact and save a life.”
Regina Cox from NICHS said: “The fact heart disease kills nearly twice as many women in Northern Ireland as female related cancers combined is truly shocking and needs to change.
“Awareness of women and heart disease remains understudied, underdiagnosed, and under-treated and, worryingly, the majority of women remain oblivious to their risk of heart disease.
"Our Her Heart campaign aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of heart disease in women and promote prevention and selfcare."
