After her mother-in-law passed away from a heart attack, Munira Shamim shares about how the symptoms impact women of color.
Last week, I took First Aid and CPR training to be able to supervise Boy Scout outdoor events for my sons. We reviewed the classic heart attack symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath and dizziness. Then, the trainer added a caveat: these symptoms were defined in the mid-20th century based on studies of primarily white men. The results shaped medical education and public awareness campaigns.
At that moment, memories from seven months ago flooded my mind. One July morning, my husband woke me urgently: my mother-in-law, Ammi was struggling to breathe. Ammi left the house with EMTs that morning, and a week later, on a sweltering August afternoon, we buried her. We later learned she had suffered a silent heart attack days or weeks earlier.
The emotional toll of Ammi’s passing has been immense. Ammi was the family pillar, planning reunions and remembering birthdays of her children and grandchildren. She was meant to help me with the chaos of raising three teenagers, and to attend my children’s graduations and weddings.
Looking back, I see the signs that we missed. Ammi had been complaining of extreme fatigue, shoulder pain and low energy for the two weeks prior to that fateful July morning. She saw several doctors but her symptoms were dismissed. At home, we tried making her comfortable but never suspected a heart attack.