A Malvern, Chester County woman tells us how she could have been one of them.
Krista Russell always took good care of her health, usually exercising 4 times a week.
"I swim, or go to classes, or lift weights, or ski, or play tennis," says the 49-year-old mother of two, with a smile.
But in May 2009, about an hour after swimming, Krista had indigestion.
She didn't think much of it, nor was she concerned discomfort she felt later in her upper back and upper arm.
Krista's mind was focused on a busy next day.
"I had a huge day. My son was about to play his final baseball game, and he had his senior prom, and i was excited about being there for both of them," she recalls.
That evening, Krista's husband suggested she go to Paoli Hospital to get checked out.
She hesitated, saying she'd be OK if she laid down for a few minutes.
"The ironic thing is, I couldn't lie down, because I couldn't get comfortable," she recalls. So she decided to go.
When her EKG and lab tests were normal, Krista wanted to go home.
But Dr. Andrea Horvath wanted a second round of tests, worried about Krista's symptoms.
Reluctantly, Krista agreed to stay - and it may have saved her life.
The second tests showed high heart enzyme levels. Dr. Horvath sent Christa for a cardiac catheterization - which showed a blockage in a major artery - the left anterior descending artery.
"In men, we call it the widowmaker,'' says Dr. Horvath.
With no high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, or family history of heart disease, Krista didn't fit the profile of a heart attack patient.
Dr. Horvath says it hit a nerve with her. "She's really no different than I am. She's in her 40s, and healthy, and exercises, and it would be like me having a heart attack today."
Krista says it took her about 6 months to come to grips with the fact she had a "cardiac event," as she calls it.
"I kept thinking they made a mistake with the lab work, or when they did the cardiac cath, they were looking at someone else's arteries," she chuckles.
Then soberly she says, "It was 6 months later when the cardiologist explained to me that this could have been deadly, and it humbled me, and I got with it."
Doctors can't explain why initial tests didn't show a problem, but Krista's clogged artery was opened and she now has a stent.
She also takes medication, but is back to her exercise routine, and has some advice for other women.
"Take those symptoms seriously," she says.
Doctors say it is very common, especially for women, to ignore symptoms. Krista says in retrospect, the fatigue and slight indigestion she felt for weeks before her attack were probably warning signs.
However, they didn't send up any red flags for her. After all, she says, "What woman isn't exhausted!"
Dr. Horvath says any fatigue, shortness of breath,,, or sweating out of proportion to an activity.... can be signs of trouble....that should not be put off.