My Experience: The Heart-Stopping Encounter at 22 – A Glimpse into the Sensations

A TikToker has shared a video explaining how he felt when he had a heart attack at age 22 and thought he was “going to die.”

Tom Birchy’s clip has already been seen by more than 1.6 million people since it was posted last week.

The video was filmed in Thailand where the influencer is currently located.

Referring to recreational drug use, Tom told viewers: ‘I had a heart attack when I was 22, and as it’s Friday night in the UK and I know what you do, here’s what it felt like to have a heart attack, how I knew I was having one, and what happened to me afterward.

“I was doing a lot of carrier bags and also working a very stressful job in the music industry. So in the morning when I was 22, I had a heart attack.”

He continued to explain how he knew he had one: “The first thing I felt was a tingling sensation at the back of my wrist, which spread up my arm until that my whole arm is sort of numb on the left.

“Then it spread to my right and I remember being so uncomfortable. It felt like both my arms were very tense.

“Then my chest tightened too. It wasn’t painful, but I had this immense pressing fear, which in medicine we call “the imminent fear of misfortune.”

Adding, “It’s a fear like knowing you’re going to die.” This is what hit me. I couldn’t lie down, I couldn’t get up, I was thrashing everywhere.

The TikToker called an ambulance, who came and did an ECG, concluding that it wasn’t a heart attack but that they wanted to take him to the hospital for blood tests to check. ensure it.

He told viewers: “So I went to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance and immediately had a blood test at A&E.”

“I remember sitting alone in a normal waiting room and someone came running up to me and said, ‘Okay, come here.’

“They took me into a room and put something in my stomach and at that point I was like, ‘Jesus Christ, why are they putting something in my stomach? ?’

Tom Birchy posted the clip last week and it has already been seen by more than 1.6 million people.

“I was admitted to a ward and later that evening found out I had had a heart attack, aged 22.”

Reflecting on how he felt at the time, he added: “It was scary, it was also during Covid, so during the week I was in hospital recovering, no one was allowed to see me.”

“People at Leeds University were putting stuff in their windows because my hospital bed was opposite the university accommodation, some people were waving from the street outside.”

The video caused panic among some viewers, with one writing: “I get the worst health anxiety when someone talks about a heart attack and I feel all the symptoms.”

Another said: “It’s worth mentioning, it can also be a panic attack. » Same symptoms, I’ve never had AP in my life, then I had this 3 times. Defo, no heart attack.

Someone else added “I had the same thing at 18, and was fine 10 years later.”