The Stress of photography

I have mentioned on this blog about the friends I have lost to heart attacks in the past short while, and on Tuesday May 21st I myself had one.  I was fortunate to have been close to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, one of the best in the country.  I can write this because I was lucky, it is that simple.

For anyone that reads this, I am physically in better shape than most people even 20 years younger, I have always had a great diet, don't smoke and  have exercised for the past 30 years.  I am a certified personal trainer and understand how my body works, what I didn't deal with was the stress.  As I have mentioned earlier losing friends to heart attacks, losing my mother all in the same year 2012, took it's toll on me, and it ended in a heart attack.

There were warning signs for over a year, but I didn't see them, my shoulder and chest would bother me when I carried my gear around, muscle pain, that's all it was, a tooth ache, no big deal, in hindsight, they were the warning signs.  I was told in hospital that anything between the mouth and the waist, warning signs aren't the same for everyone. 

If it can happen to a healthy, fit, person with no family history of heart problems, just think about the overweight, poor diet smokers that don't believe it will ever happen to them.  A walking time bomb, and they may not be in the right place at the right time to save them.  The signs will be there, listen to them, tell your friends, it may just save their life.