Rotorua Hospital nurses, with artwork by Claire McLeary (fourth from right, back row), created to give back to the “unsung heroes” who helped save her life. Cardiologist Dr Andrew Bowers is front right. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua Hospital nurses, with artwork by Claire McLeary (fourth from right, back row), created to give back to the “unsung heroes” who helped save her life. Cardiologist Dr Andrew Bowers is front right. Photo / Supplied
Valentine’s Day last year literally took Claire McLeary’s breath away – and not because of the large bouquet her husband Glenn brought home.
The couple’s routine morning walk suddenly felt harder than normal for Claire.
She was breathless, her chest tight and burning, and no amount of rest or asthmamedication brought relief.
Claire lay on the couch “dizzy and worried”. She thought: Is this serious enough to seek help?
It was Glenn who insisted she should see a doctor. He knew the signs of a heart in trouble.
Glenn was on holiday in 2020 and felt “a bit seedy” the morning after a few drinks.
He was 53 at the time and tried to shrug it off, but those around him could sense he was not quite right.
Forty minutes later, he was on his first-ever helicopter flight to Waikato Hospital. Doctors discovered a blocked main artery and rushed him into surgery for a stent insertion.
Claire got an electrocardiography (ECG) test five years later.
Her test looked normal, but a stress test at Rotorua Hospital showed the tightness and burning Claire was feeling in her chest. An urgent angiogram followed.
Claire’s left main artery was found to be “severely blocked”.
Claire McLeary with artwork she created as part of her Art From the Heart initiative. Photo / Supplied
Doctors placed a stent immediately. Claire said she could have had a fatal heart attack known as the “widow maker” if it had been left untreated.
The recovery wasn’t easy. Medication side effects, emotional exhaustion and lingering dizziness left her “half there”.
Glenn understood.
Though he was back at work two days after his surgery, medication made him feel “suppressed, flat and depressed”. It took about a year for him to feel like himself again.
Glenn helped navigate the process for Claire.
In December, Claire’s chest discomfort returned, and she was diagnosed with microvascular angina, which is now managed through medication and stress reduction.
Claire credits Rotorua Hospital cardiologist Dr Andrew Bowers as one of the reasons for her survival.
He listened to her medical history carefully and did not dismiss her symptoms as anxiety or menopause.
Both of Claire’s parents died young from heart attacks – her father at 46, her mother at 60. Claire was 56 and had been monitoring her heart most of her life because of their early death.
Claire, a full-time illustrator, turned to art as her way of saying thank you.
She painted a heart surrounded by Valentine’s flowers last June, inspired by the same orange and yellow blooms Glenn had brought home the night before she was rushed to hospital.
“I never really got to enjoy [the flowers]”, Claire said.
Claire had initially planned to create a limited-edition print to support heart health more broadly. After talking with Bowers, the focus shifted to supporting the local “unsung heroes”.
Claire and Glenn had seen first-hand the “extraordinary” care provided by Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) nurses.
So when Bowers said they could set up a fund directly for ICU and CCU nurses, it was the perfect way for the couple to give back.
Bowers said ICU and CCU nurses work at an exceptionally high level while needing to stay at the forefront of rapidly changing care.
He said ongoing education was vital, but often difficult to access because of budget constraints.
Bowers said the funding would come under the Rotorua Charitable Trust, a long-standing trust that exists to support hospital processes.
Bowers would be one of two signatories of the nurse education fund and said it was in the process of being made last week.
It was called the ICU and CCU Nurse Education Fund, and all money raised from Claire’s art, under the Art From the Heart initiative, would be collected by her and put straight into the hospital fund.
Claire’s art included limited-edition prints of the artwork she gifted to Bowers and small heart pins designed to be worn close to the heart.
Bower said only ICU and CCU nurses could use the fund.
“This fund acknowledges their value to the care of the people in this region, and will support their ability to be educated to a very high level,” Bowers said.
Cases like Claire’s were not rare, Bowers said, and symptoms affecting the heart should always be taken seriously.
Claire said Valentine’s Day was one she would “never forget”, making it the right time to bring attention to the campaign.
The initiative was ongoing and could be supported via the Art From the Heart website.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.
