CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Chesapeake woman was in her early 20s when she had a heart attack. Now, she’s using her story to help save lives.
The American Heart Association says heart disease is one of the leading causes of death for women of color.
“I feel like I had to have faith, because I had to be there for my kids. And I was able to see both of them graduate, and that’s all I really wanted to see” said Marquita Covil, a survivor.
Covil counts her blessings and wears red as a reminder of the moment her life could have taken a devastating turn.
“I was so young, and I was like, ‘Why me?'” Covil added.
It’s a question that Covil still asks herself. She was in her early 20s when she had her first heart attack.
“I just had sharp pain, and then I called my sister-in-law, who is a nurse practitioner, And she said, ‘You don’t play with pains in your chest, you need to go to the emergency room.’ And that’s what I did,” said Covil.
That was the first sign of Covil’s heart trouble. Her doctor told her she had congestive heart failure. Years later, she had two strokes in her 30s.