'I feel fitter than ever after my heart attack'

"At 85 years of age I never thought I would be going to the gym or walking laps of Mary Peters track."

Those are the words of Joe Connolly who is recovering from a heart attack and attending the cardiac rehab service at the Belfast Health Trust.

Four months ago, Joe woke up in the middle of the night feeling pressure across his chest.

"I didn't collapse, there wasn't a sharp violent pain, I wasn't sweating - I just felt this unusual pressure," he said.

There was no ambulance available, so he was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital by car where an electrocardiogram confirmed a heart attack.

Joe was still wearing his slippers when he left his home in south Belfast. He had lifted his glasses and mobile phone as he passed the hall table.

As BBC News NI's health correspondent, I am used to telling patients' stories but Joe isn't just any patient - he's my dad and this is our family's story of a heart attack, a cardiac nurse and how we all learned to live again.

My dad has been active all his life - even in retirement.

However in November, in the early hours of a Saturday morning, our world was shaken when his heart decided to hold a mini protest.

I woke up to seven missed calls and a message to ring my older brother.

He picked up and calmly said: "Dad is OK, but he's had a heart attack and is in hospital, mum is with him."

What happened that night is now a familiar story in the family.

Mum initially thought it was just indigestion. But as the pressure and my dad's worried expression increased, she dialled 999.

According to my mum, a "lovely woman with a Scottish accent" asked her to describe his symptoms and the advice was for him to chew four aspirins without water.

My dad said within fifteen minutes of doing so, the pressure had eased.

The call handler said an ambulance would not be available for maybe hours and suggested my mum or someone else could take him to hospital.

Forty minutes later dad was at the emergency department - thanks to my brother.

It was an anxious time.

Eventually he was admitted to a ward, and we waited for a diagnosis and treatment plan.

A weekend admission meant we had to wait until Monday, when a consultant said dad needed a stent procedure to unblock an artery.

Staff said a stent was like the refill of a ballpoint pen and when inserted into the artery it allowed the blood to flow to the heart.

A second artery which was described as "furry" could be treated with medication.

Dad's slot to have the procedure became available during visiting hours - a porter and nurse arrived and whisked him away.

He was back within the hour. Drowsy, slightly bruised but relieved.

"A few weeks after leaving hospital I received a call from the cardiac nurse Susan Kane and that's when things turned around for the better - she is my go-to and at the other end of a phone," he said.

My dad is being cared for by the cardiac rehabilitation team.

Once a week, dad joins about 15 other men and women who are recovering from heart disease - including angina, a heart bypass or a stent procedure - in south Belfast at the Olympia leisure centre.

Cardiac nurse Susan Kane says it is all about "helping people to feel better about themselves, to help their heart health and mixing helps their emotional health too".

Between April 2023 and March 2024, 346 people took part in the cardiac rehab service at the Belfast Trust - by the end of March, 263 had completed the programme and were discharged.

It's a similar picture across each of the health trusts where teams including physiotherapists and dietitians are led by cardiac nurses.

There is gentle aerobic exercise, cycling and resistance training with light weights.

"What's important after a heart attack is to be back doing your normal activities again and for your family to treat you normally so you can start feeling like yourself," said Susan.

"Whether you are 45 or 85 after a heart attack life is not over and you can lead a healthier life, even compared to what you did before."

Her mantra is "your heart loves to walk" and she encourages everyone in the group to enjoy the outdoors.

Susan advised us not to wrap mum and dad in cotton wool but to encourage them to get out and about, and to get back to playing indoor bowls.

I now recognise that I was overly protective in the weeks, even months, after my dad's heart attack and it's taken a long time not to think the worst every time the phone rings.

Mum and dad are active, their diet is better and their outlook on life is positive.

On Sunday, dad celebrated his birthday.

As we left the restaurant, he said he was grateful to be here, that he's never felt as fit and that it feels good to have reached the grand age of 85.