Five-time heart attack survivor turned TV chef helping people to stay healthy - The Stratford Observer

Five-time heart attack survivor turned TV chef helping people to stay healthy

Stratford Editorial 22nd Feb, 2018   0

A TV chef from Stratford whose heart is ‘a ticking time bomb’, is helping people to stay healthy.

February is National Heart Month – a campaign launched by the British Heart Foundation to encourage people to take steps to a healthier lifestyle.

And no-one knows the importance of this more than Heart Research UK ambassador Sally Bee.

The wellness guru was diagnosed with Fibromuscular Dysplasia – a rare condition causing irregular sized blood vessels – after suffering three major heart attacks at the age of just 36.




The mum-of-three was not expected to live through the damage her heart had sustained, but thoughts of her family helped her survive.

She said: “Since I had just discovered that I was still alive, and I’d allowed myself to think for a second about my little ones at home, I was filled with an all-consuming need and desire and passion not to let myself die. I can’t put into words how strong the feeling was. It was this surge of emotion that literally saved my life.


“It was instinctive and I decided there and then that I would never, ever give up breathing.”

After the life-altering ordeal, Sally committed to a healthy living regime she shared through several recipe books and TV appearances on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’ and other shows.

But 12 years later in 2016, the author suffered another two heart attacks.

Miraculously, the second spate of attacks caused minimal further damage to her heart.

And she soon swung back into action, writing more recipe books and a column for The Mail on Sunday.

Shortly after her second heart attack, the chef told Hello! magazine it was like ‘living with a ticking time bomb’.

She added: “Now I am in really good health again.

“There is no cure for what I have. Only one of the three main arteries around my heart is left intact and I know I could have another attack at any time.

“But I don’t let myself wallow in self-pity.”

The wellness guru’s latest projects include filming a documentary about organ donation in the UK called ‘Urgent Delivery – Heart in a Box.’

Visit www.sally-bee.com to find out more.

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