Between November 2019 and June 2020, 38 hospitals, including the Launceston General Hospital took part in a patient support program called My Heart My Life.

The program, which is aimed at improving quality of life and reducing the risk of a repeat event, provides advice and assistance to help people understand and manage their heart health following a cardiac episode.

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According to the Heart Foundation, participants who took part in the program recorded positive health outcomes, including increased physical activity, reduced rates of smoking, weight loss and improved diets.

One of the participants in the My Heart My Life program was Youngtown woman Sandra Comer, who at 61 survived a heart attack.

After feeling unwell for several days and visiting the LGH only to be sent home, Ms Comer suffered a significant heart attack known as a widow-maker.

After taking one of her daily walks with her husband, Ms Comer said she started to feel unwell and experienced a sensation she likened to heartburn. Despite being assured by doctors she was OK, Ms Comer returned to the LGH.

It was while sitting in a waiting room at the LGH that Ms Comer suffered the attack, with the 62-year-old explaining the only reason she survived the attack was that it occurred while she was at the hospital.

"I was actually in the emergency department at the LGH when my heart attack hit," she said.

"Mine was called a widow-maker heart attack. There's only a really low percentage of people that survive that heart attack If you're not close to medical resources.

"The nurse came and put an ECG on me and then I was taken over to the resus bay and within 20 minutes I was in the theatre getting a stent put in my heart."

Ms Comer said while she was in hospital she discovered a My Heart My Life booklet and said the resources it offered provided her with significant comfort following her brush with death.

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She said as part of the program a health professional prepared her for any post-heart attack challenges and referred her to a psychologist which Ms Comer said helped reassure her.

Since her attack, Ms Comer has managed to return to her pre-attack lifestyle and enjoys many of her favourite activities.

I've gone back to my garden, I like gardening and walking," she said.

"Walking was a part of my routine during the day as we have a dog and my partner has Parkinson's, so you know exercise is good for him."

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