Cardiologist Who Survived Heart Attack Shares Warning About Overlooked Symptom: 'Don't Make My Mistake'

A cardiologist who went through the frightening experience of having a heart attack is now speaking out, hoping others will pay attention to the early signs he ignored. He admitted he had been in complete denial about what was really happening to him.

It’s especially striking given Dr. William Wilson’s background. As someone who specializes in treating heart issues, he understands the dangers all too well — which is exactly what made the situation so shocking, even to him.

In fact, his first reaction when he realized what was going on says it all: "This can't be happening to me, I'm a cardiologist."

Even though he had years of experience under his belt and a deep understanding of how the heart works, Dr. Wilson admitted that he couldn’t quite believe he was having a heart attack himself. He didn’t want to accept it.

At the time, he was 63 years old and working at Parkview Health in Indiana. He maintained a healthy weight, never smoked, and stayed active with regular workouts.

He didn’t suffer from high blood pressure or cholesterol either, so he figured he was in great shape. His only real risk factor was a family history — both a heart attack and a stroke in his father’s past.

With all that in mind, Dr. Wilson considered himself healthy and didn’t hesitate to hit the gym with his wife in January 2018.

He said he felt completely fine at first and was feeling good as he got started on his regular routine. That day’s workout kicked off with the stair master, just like usual.

Dr Wilson didn't want to believe he was suffering a heart attack, even though all his symptoms pointed to it YouTube/ParkviewHealth

Describing the unusual feeling that suddenly came over him, Dr. Wilson said in a video for ParkviewHealth: "It didn't just hit me, boom, it was discomfort - and not a sharp discomfort."

"It was an uncomfortable pressing discomfort, which you'd think I'd know, as this is what I do in my job...and of course, I did. But not for about 30 or 60 seconds. For the amount of exercise I was doing, I was dripping in sweat."

"I was in denial. I was trying to talk myself out of this and say, 'This isn't happening to me, this can't be happening to me'."

"I mean, I'm a cardiologist. This doesn't happen to cardiologists!"

He went on to explain that he felt a deep, overwhelming sense of doom settle over him. Not long after that, he started to feel something else — a heart attack symptom many people might not be familiar with.

"It's very common when people are having a heart attack, that they have to go to the bathroom really bad." the cardiologist explained. "It's part of the whole nervous system thing with a heart attack that's activated."

"And so sure enough I had to go to the bathroom at the gym...and I prayed."

Once he returned from the bathroom, Dr. Wilson found his wife and calmly told her he believed he was having a heart attack. She quickly reached out to his coworkers at the hospital to let them know what was going on.

He later joked that his colleagues were just as shocked as he was, saying: "I'm not probably the person that they expected to have a heart attack."

The medic said his wife was 'awesome' in handling the situation after he informed her what was going on YouTube/ParkviewHealth

"The key for treating a heart attack is getting to the hospital as quickly as you can. Once you're there, the cardiology team and the hospital team will take it from there."

Doctors performed a cardiac catheterization to locate the problem. It turned out that a ruptured plaque had significantly reduced the blood flow to his heart, triggering the heart attack.

After this terrifying experience, Dr. Wilson began urging others to be more aware of heart attack signs. If a seasoned heart specialist like him could miss the signs, then it could truly happen to anyone.

"The lesson here is that despite all the things we do - identify people who are very high risk - we're not perfect, and there are heart attacks that happen in people who are relatively low risk." he shared with Today.com in a 2022 interview.