LAYTON—When Kim Young, a nurse at Intermountain Health Layton Hospital, got out of the pool after finishing her swimming workout she had some jaw pain. That was the beginning of a medical emergency that was totally unexpected. February is American Heart Month and Young encourages other people to know the signs of a heart attack. 

“I had this weird left jaw pain,” said Young, who is 67 now but was 64 when it happened. “I thought ‘oh I must have held my jaw at a weird angle. I was kind of stressed.’ I went to put my shoes on and I had massive, crushing chest pain.”

Young said she thought she’d just go to the car and walk it off. “I got in and started the car and then I thought ‘ought oh’ and I got out and just threw up.”

 It was really early in the morning, she said. “I was about half way between my house and the ER. I decided to go home to get my husband. We went back to the ER and I knew at that time it was like three elephants standing on my chest.”

Young said she walked into the ER and said she was in the middle of a massive STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction). “They just got me right back and started all the interventions.”

Dr. Ellen Witala ordered nitroglycerin and anticlot medications. After doing an EKG they determined that she needed to be transferred to McKay-Dee Hospital.

“So they called the lights and sirens ambulance,” said Young. “From the time I walked into the door at Layton to McKay-Dee interventional radiology was 42 minutes which is really good. They took me to the cath lab to put a stint in because I had a complete left side occlusion – or the ‘Widowmaker.’”

Young said she learned how to swim in the 60s. “You just didn’t breathe unless you turned your head to the side and then I just held my breath the rest of the time. Come to find out from cardiac rehab that is very bad. Evidently that’s what had happened.”

Young said they checked all of her other arteries and nothing else was blocked. “It was the stress of holding my breath for an hour. I’ve never had any heart disease or high cholesterol – nothing.”

One year after the heart attack, she completed her first Olympic-distance triathlon. “I did the Spudman (triathlon) in Burley Idaho and I’m signed up to do the Sacramento full ironman in October.”

Young ran a marathon with her kids in 2014 and picked up swimming in 2022. “I’ve always been a long distance bike rider,” she said. “The triathlon I’ve signed up for is a 112 mile bike ride. A two and a half mile swim and a 112 mile biker ride then a full marathon, 26.2 miles.”

It will be good, said Young. “You’ve got to challenge yourself.”

Young encourages others to be smart about the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. “I think the classic signs I felt. But I was lucky because those aren’t the usual signs a woman would feel,” she said. “Nausea was and I had that. Quite often women get nauseated when they’re having an MI (Myocardial infarction).”

Recognize that because that door to stint time is really important, said Young. “Time is tissue. Going home and getting my husband was probably not the best idea. I should have just laid down and let them call 911.”

Young said she knew the jaw pain was a symptom. “Oh the massive crushing chest pain – that’s not anxiety.”

Take the time to say something is wrong, she said. “You’re worth it. The fact that I did live, I’m just not going to take that for granted.”