Woman Mistook Heart Attack For Symptoms Of Flu. This Happened Next

A mother who initially believed she had the flu, only to discover she was having a heart attack, is speaking out about her ordeal and offering a cautionary message to fellow women.

Jenna Tanner shared her story with Good Morning America. She told the media outlet, "I thought I was coming down with the flu or the upper respiratory infection or something," Tanner told "GMA."

In the previous year, a combination of COVID-19 and the flu swept through Tanner's home in Oklahoma, and the 48-year-old also fell sick.

"I was having fleeting pains in my chest that I thought was my ... lungs," Mrs Tanner recounted.

Initially, Mrs Tanner chose not to seek medical attention. "I didn't want to tell my husband because I knew he would say we have to go straight to the hospital. And I didn't want to go spend any more time in waiting rooms at the doctor's office, so I ignored it," she said.

However, neglecting her pain nearly resulted in Mrs Tanner losing her life. She recounted that after two days, she lost consciousness, and upon regaining awareness, she immediately realized she was in the midst of a severe heart attack.

"It felt like an elephant sitting on me. I couldn't move," Mrs Tanner recalled. "I couldn't move at all. It was very scary."

According to the American Heart Association, a heart attack is the number-one killer of women in the US. Nevertheless, according to experts, women are prone to ignore the signs of heart attack. 

"Women can typically present with symptoms unrelated to chest pain and I think that's one of the reasons why they get downplayed, mainly because it doesn't feel typically like what you think a heart attack would feel like," ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton explained.

The most common symptom of heart attack for men and women is chest pain, but women also experience other symptoms including shortness of breath, nausea, back, shoulder and jaw pain. 

"All of these symptoms, when they happen suddenly, you have to pay attention because they might be a sign of something more sinister," Sutton said.

Upon regaining consciousness, Mrs Tanner mentioned that she crawled to her cell phone, positioned two rooms away, and successfully called for assistance.

Following the heart attack, Mrs Tanner had to undergo three surgeries and received two stents as part of her treatment. A year later, she reported feeling improved and encouraged other women to be attentive to their bodies, emphasizing the importance of not neglecting symptoms as she had done.

"Heart health for women is important. Don't ignore heart pain," Tanner said. "Even if you think it's your lungs, even if you've been to the doctor 20 times in the last two months with your children, just make sure you take it seriously."