Heart attack survivor raises awareness — and hope

St. Catharines native cycles in support of Heart and Stroke group

It was a feeling he will never forget.

Sound asleep in his Kitchener home, Leonard Shushan bolted upright in a cold sweat, with a pain he knew “had to be a heart attack.”

Just weeks earlier, Shushan had started experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains, but a trip to the hospital amounted to very little. Emergency room doctors said there was nothing to worry about and put the St. Catharines native on a stress test wait-list.

Immediately after waking up, frightened, in the middle of the night, Shushan called 911 and was taken to hospital where it was confirmed he had suffered a mild heart attack. The next day, he had surgery. Two stents were implanted.

“I am grateful that I was able to get diagnosed early and get the life-saving surgery that I needed,” Shushan said.

A lifelong cycler, Shushan is now a 62-year-old heart attack survivor, and was unsure whether he would ever get back on a bicycle.

“I was scared because you do something for 40 years, and how do you do this now? Because I didn’t have a playbook. I didn’t have a rulebook on how to do this right,” he said.

But on Labour Day, Shushan and friend Peter Van Driel cycled the 130.93-kilometre trip from Kitchener to St. Catharines in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, arriving at the Coach House at Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery in just less than five hours.

“The ride went exceptionally well, we made exceptionally good time,” said Shushan. “For 10 kilometres there, I was feeling it, I was in a bit of pain. But as soon as I hit (Pelham) it was just great … I knew that the end was near.”

It was a trip he used to take a few times a year, but to do it after everything he had been through?

“It is something that I didn’t know I could do when I had a heart attack,” he said.

He now cycles with a chest strap that monitors his heart rate.

“It’s different when you get older and it’s different when you’ve had a heart attack because you have to be aware of your condition. You have to take precautions.”

About two weeks before the bike ride, Shushan decided to use the trip to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

“It’s a serious thing and they do need the money for research so it is very important that they do continue to be funded,” he said.

The day after the ride, Shushan was feeling well, but he admitted he was a “little stiff.” He wants to continue to share his story and support other heart attack survivors.

“I hope people take it to heart,” he said. “For anyone who’s gone through a heart attack, you can recover and you can come out the other side … you can continue to have a life afterwards.

“You might not feel it at the time, but you can do it.”

Shushan said as a cyclist he naturally gravitated towards the bike as part of his recovery. But for other survivors, he urged them to find a physical activity they enjoy and can be sustained — on top of working with their cardiologist and rehab team.

“Do things that help you to maintain your physical and emotional well-being. Find ways to take this seriously because it’s important,” said Shushan.

Donations towards Heart and Stroke can be made through Leonard Shushan’s webpage: http://support.heart-andstroke.ca/goto /lenshushan.