Racing Against Heart Disease

There was no crushing chest pain like we see in movies or on TV; for local professional rally racer Mr William Lyou, 72, heart attack was sudden and unexpected. Having been on the fast track since the late 1960s, Mr Lyou’s life came to a complete slowdown with his heart condition. With the help of the Singapore Heart Foundation’s cardiac rehabilitation programme, he is now able to jog again for a short distance.

Hello Mr Lyou, what was your heart attack experience?

It all happened so suddenly with no symptoms or signs. It was just a regular morning when I woke up with an ache on both my shoulder blades, followed by severe vomiting. I immediately did a mental check on the common heart attack symptoms (that I usually see in the movies or dramas) – chest pain, cold sweat – but I experienced none of these. When both my legs gave way in the shower, I decided I need to go to the hospital. Luckily, my son was home and drove me over to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which was about three minutes from my home.

Upon arrival, my blood pressure and heart rate had a reading of less than 50 for both. The medical team decided to send me straight to the operating theatre where I underwent an angioplasty. Shortly after the operation started, my heart suddenly stopped, and I cannot remember what happened thereafter.

I was only informed later that an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine is not readily available in all hospitals and I was lucky that a medical team from the Singapore General Hospital was willing to come over to set up the ECMO machine to help bring me back to life. However, it was not a happily ever after story for me, as my health continued to deteriorate. I was diagnosed with pneumonia three months later.

Fearing that my condition might lead to heart failure, I was sent to the National Heart Centre Singapore and placed under the care of the Heart Failure team led by Clinical Associate Professor David Sim. He gave me two options: one was to try a new drug called Entresto and the other was to insert a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) – an electric pump implanted into my chest to help pump blood to my heart and my entire body.

Thankfully, the new drug worked and with cardiac rehabilitation, I am where I am today.

You joined the Heart Wellness Programme at the Singapore Heart Foundation in Aug 2019. How have you been coping since then?

I am very pleased with my progress, thanks to the help of the team at the Foundation. After my operation, I was not as fit as before and was unable to jog. I was very demoralised as I was unable to do many things I liked in the past, like working on cars. However, today was the fourth time I jogged for a short period, clocking a total of 120m.

The experience at the Heart Wellness Centre (HWC) has been encouraging and stress-free with physiotherapists guiding me through exercises that are suitable for my condition. Seeing how I have improved since my operation, I always look forward to the next session at the HWC.