“I’m one of lucky ones” – Kildare man talks about suffering heart attack at 46

A Kildare man who survived a serious heart attack at the age of 46 and will lead a fundraising cycle to Kerry for the St James Hospital Foundation on August 9/10.

Ger Heffernan, a Rathangan based former League of Ireland soccer player and youth international, had just done forty lengths in a swimming pool at Portarlington Leisure Centre in March 2023 when he felt a pain in the base of his throat.
Leisure centre staff called an ambulance and took care of Ger for an hour before the ambulance arrived and it was confirmed he was having a heart attack.

He was taken to St James Hospital and well cared for there.

“I am one of the lucky ones, and was fortunate to survive and realise the amazing work that the ambulance paramedics, doctors, nurses and staff perform every day in St. James Hospital. Without them I would not be here,” said Ger.

He got four stents in his heart system and two weeks later, was back in the family home and family, wife, Rathangan native, Tracy (nee McCormack), daughter Hannah (14) and sons, Sam and Jack, both ten.

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Ger, a native of Leixlip, is very grateful to staff at the hospital, including Dr. Mark Hensey, Prof. Daly’s Team, Dr. John Buckley, the doctors and nurses on the entire cardiac rehab teams in St. James’ and also those at Naas Hospital.
He is also grateful to his family, friends, and the Edgescan family for their help in him making a relatively straight forward recovery to a healthy functioning heart.
As a result he wants to do something to raise funds and create awareness of cardiac health.
On August 9, Heffo’s Army will leave his home near Rathangan, Kildare, where he has lived for 15 years, and cycle to the birthplace of his father, Maurice in Ballylongford, Co Kerry.
Maurice, a former Garda detective, recently published his memoir, “Once there was a boy who survived,” had the Kerry launch of his book in Finucane’s pub in Ballylongford.
The cycle team will end their trip at the same venue.
They plan to stop every 20 kilometres for liquid and sugar inputs.
It includes his siblings, Mark, Niall and Ann Marie, Ann Marie’s husband, Michael; brother in law, Andy; cousin, Robbie from Liverpool; Alex, husband of a first cousin and Ger, himself.
The support team will include Tracy; also Ger’s sister, Noeleen, his daughter, Hannah and Niall’s wife, Barbara.
“This is about cardiac health awareness. I was relatively healthy. I was relatively fit.
I was a full time athlete as a younger man. I had bloods done the week before.
I was not short of breath, I did not get a pain down the left arm.
I was 46 years old when I had a heart attack,” said Ger, who urges people to get cardiac checks done. “Be aware. Don’t be in denial,” he said.
By average standards, Ger, who works in IT cyber security, was a successful soccer player, who had trials with Coventry City and Manchester Utd at the age of 14, before a six year League of Ireland career with UCD where he went on a scholarship.
He played with St Francis and played for the Republic of Ireland at underage international level.
The two day cycle will not be the only Heffernan family event this year.
In October, a group of fifty, including family and friends, will head to Malta where Ger’s dad, Maurice, currently lives.

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