Kaye Tomlinson post surgery with her husband Peter

It’s said that a quarter is a long time in football, and in Kaye Tomlinson’s case, it would’ve been too long to have saved the life of the mum of a former AFL player following a shock heart attack last week.

From the moment that Kaye was brought into Cabrini Malvern Emergency Department (ED) by her husband Peter, triaged, collapsed, shocked back to life, and on her way to a life-saving procedure to unblock her artery, only 14 minutes had passed.

For Kaye to have survived her heart attack and cardiac arrest that followed, the “chain of survival” that led to her emergency angioplasty in a Cabrini catheterisation lab had to be swift and unbroken.

“Kaye developed chest pain when she was a passenger in a car close by,” Cabrini Director of Emergency Dr Ian Turner said. “Her husband Peter googled to the nearest ED and drove directly to us. Kaye is very lucky that we were only 11 minutes away.

“They arrived at triage, but Kaye quickly collapsed, so she was taken immediately to our resuscitation area, where she then had a cardiac arrest.”

The assembled ED medical and nursing teams responded instantly.

“They resuscitated Kaye with a single electric shock to the heart, administered some other life-saving medications, and got her to the cardiac catheter lab all within 14 minutes of arrival,” Dr Turner said.

Dr Mark Freilich performed the emergency angiogram, identified a blocked artery, which he then opened, and implanted a stent. Kaye was stabilised and transferred to 1 West, Cabrini’s specialist cardiac ward, a short time after.

L-R Peter Tomlinson, Cabrini Cardiologist Dr Mark Freilich and patient Kaye Tomlinson

For 64-year-old Kaye, mum of former GWS and Melbourne footballer Adam Tomlinson, the heart attack came as a huge shock.

“I’m a fit and healthy mum of three. In fact, I’d been on a five-kilometre run the day before and was pushing my granddaughter in her pram around a hilly area just that morning,” Kaye, a former top-flight netballer and keen golfer, said.

“I’d had no warning signs, my blood pressure has always been good, and I don’t even eat fried food, so it came as a complete shock. As it turns out, my cholesterol was a little high, but besides that, there was no indication that I was at risk.

“I feel so lucky that I came to Cabrini. Every step has been amazing – from Dr Freilich, the Emergency Department team, all the nurses, and the beautiful lady who delivers my tea. Everyone has been wonderful.

“And a big thanks to the poor nurse who had to move our car out of the ambulance bay. Our dog, who doesn’t like new people very much, was in the back seat and gave him quite the shock.”

Dr Freilich said that Kaye’s situation isn’t unique and that heart attacks can strike anyone, even those who are fit and strong like Kaye.

“Heart attacks are something that can just happen,” Dr Freilich said. “As we get older, we’re at higher risk of having heart disease and it can sometimes be fit people who develop it, too.

“Kaye’s very lucky. The whole of her care team did a phenomenal job, starting down in Emergency where they essentially brought her back to life, stabilised things, and activated the cath lab to get her up there as quickly as they did.

“The quicker we can get our patients up to the cath lab, the quicker we can perform this life-saving procedure to open up their artery and reduce how much damage the patient is going to have down the track.”

For retired dentist Peter, whose quick thinking was also instrumental in saving his wife’s life, he is keen to share the warning signs of heart attack that might sometimes be missed.

“As we were driving along Glenferrie Rd, Kaye said she felt some pain under both her arms, and then in her chest, which Kaye thought was just indigestion to start with,” Peter explained. “So many of us think that the main sign of a heart attack is that tight crushing feeling in the chest and pain down the left arm, but Kaye’s was under both her arms, and then she felt sweaty and nauseous.

“It was then that we realised she was having a heart attack, and we knew we had to get to hospital as soon as possible.”

After a few days in Cabrini, Kaye is now recuperating at her Rye home with Peter. She will have some cardiac rehab before returning to her active life on the golf course and running around after her four grandchildren.

“I know how lucky I am and want to thank everyone involved in saving my life. I couldn’t have been in any better hands.”

As part of the Cabrini redevelopment, construction is underway on an additional cardiac catheterisation lab and four new operating theatres to help us to care for more people like Kaye every year.

Kaye Tomlinson – I survived!