My boyfriend died of a heart attack

I am a 48 year old female, up till 6 months ago, I was happy, on top of the world. and deeply in love. My boyfriend was 4 years younger than me, but that didnt matter to either of us, we both believed we had found our "soul mate" and couldnt be happier! On the night of May 12, we had decided to go watch the car races, since he was a former racecar driver and really loved to go. He had told me on that particular night he wanted to go especially bad, so we went. It was a fun, but uneventful night, but when he got up from the bleachers to go check on my daughter, I noticed he was walking funny, I could tell it was his back, and he told me, upon return, that his low back was hurting, really bad. I could tell he was in severe pain, so we ended up leaving early, which was highly unusual. On the drive home, I plead with him to go to the hospital, although it was just lower back pain, something didnt seem right to me. Being the tough guy, he said he would be ok, and we went home. He went to bed early that night, and I went and laid with him, massaging his back,giving him ibprofen,doing what I could to help. He had a restless night, and being as he was a smoker, got up several times during the night to smoke and each time I went with him as he was in such pain he had a hard time walking. By morning, the sheets were soaked with his sweat and he told me he was shaking all night, again I begged him to go to the dr..but he said no, he was ok. It was a little before 9am, May 13th..mothers day...and he went to lay down on the bed again, said it was really hurting, the last words he spoke to me were, it feels like something stuck in my throat..I gave him some water and he seemed better and laid down..I told him I was gonna go fold the laundry in the living room...right by the bedroom..and to call me if he needs anything. For some reason, I dont know if I heard something, or if my instinct was telling me to go check on him, but I peeked in the bedroom, to see him turning blue,having a seizure, and struggling to breathe. In a panic, I grabbed the phone, called 911, and while frantically telling them what was going on, checked for a pulse...finding one very erratic and going way to fast, and he wasnt breating. I started cpr..and yelled at the 911 operator asking where the f#$% the ambulance was...the whole time I was doing cpr..I could tell he was dying..there was much fluid coming out of his mouth, he had the death rattle, and I couldnt get a pulse. It took them 15 minutes to get here when the hospital is 5 min away...I knew by the time they got here, he was pretty much gone..and I and my 9 year old were in total hysterics...as she saw the whole awful event. Last I saw him, his face was purple, and the paramedics were working on him, they worked on him 45 minutes, but he died :( I lost it and ended up in the psyche ward for a week because I tried to commit suicide after he died. Since then, I have been plagued with guilt, because I couldnt save him, and I am totally obsessed with death. I look at pictures, google what happens during a heart attack...I need to know what he felt, if he felt alot of pain, was he afraid..these questions torment me. I cant really say im afraid of death, but I am obsessed with it...there are times I welcome it because I feel it is the only way I will see him again...I am not the same person..I rarely smile..and I feel I am living to die..if that makes any sense. I am on antidepressants..and have seen a psychiatrist...but quit going because they are no help at all..I dont feel depression..in the sense most people do...but I am so obsessed with death that is all I can think about...is this a normal reaction???

Voting Results
68% Normal
Based on 56 votes (38 yes)
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Comments ( 12 )
  • Terence_the_viking

    Please don't throw your life away. Live for the sake of your child she needs you more than ever. She has witnessed something that someone that innocent should not be seeing. Please for the sake of your child Live.

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  • kelili

    My most sincere sympathy. I feel really sad reading your story. This must have been really hard but it's good to write it down. Grieve, grieve the time you need, you'll feel better once you have accepted his death. You have a child - hold on to her. Take care

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    • Thank you...I dont think ive totally accepted his death yet as I still secretly feel he will find a way to come back...I do hold on to my child and live for her tho...as she is all I have...thank you so much for your reply...god bless :)

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  • NotStrangeBird

    It's terrible what happened, no doubt.

    Let me ask you this. Do you think your boyfriend (the stoic silent sufferer) would want you to carry on like this and act so irrationally and selfishly?

    Or would he tell you to pull yourself together, take care of your responsibilities and business and go on with life?

    We both know the answer to that.

    I'll leave all the emotional stuff to the other posters.

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  • TonybigCock

    my lord thats a long question.

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  • humhainna

    It's normal to feel the way you are feeling After the loss of a loved one. We all come alone and go alone. When your time will come it will come. Just now it's not your time to go. After The mourning time try to bring your life to be normal even though you will never forget this. He
    Would ask you to be happy and enjoy your life the way you want if he can tell you. We are
    All sorry at your loss. Bless you.

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  • humhainna

    I am so sorry at your loss. If he could tell you he would say be happy.

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  • jay_jay2012

    If I was you I would look in the mirror and ask your self wgat would he want you to do and you got a kid to look after its hard but you need to think about your kid iv been in a situation like it and it aint nice iv got scares on the inside and out you just need to relax and talk to as many people as possible go on holiday or something keep your self busy I really hope you find your self and pick up I really do

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  • Nokiot9

    Holy shit. I know your world is falling apart right now and you miss him, but your daughter is what's you have to focus on. If she saw that, she is gonna need some therapy probably. DO NOT BLAME yourself. You did all you could. What were u supposed to do? Ether him and drag him to the car and drive him to the hospital? I don't wanna sound insensitive, but his 'tough guy' attitude got him, not you. You recognized the signs, the red flags, of a heart attack, and he chose not to. It's not normal to die that young of a heart problem, but it has been known to happen. Did he have hyper tension or high blood pressure or take nitrates? And aspirin is what u give someone having a heart attack. IBuprophen doesn't do a thing. Aspirin thins the blood and makes it easier to pass through the blocked artery.

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  • seemae

    I can't imagine what you've been through. Don't give up. Regular exercise and meditation/yoga has helped me more than any antidepressant or counselour. But having a support system, at least one person you can talk to who is nonjudgmental and cares about you is essential. Maybe try to find a forum online for those struggling with loss, start small if it's scary to talk about. I wish you and your little girl the best of luck.

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    • seemae

      I thought more about your question today and I wanted to add on to this:
      You obsessing over his pain, while understandable, needs to be let go. If you've ever broken a bone or seriously injured yourself, you can probably remember that after a certain point of pain, you felt numb. If you haven't, then I can reassure you that each human as a threshold of pain - once their mind reaches the "max", there is no more pain. In a situation like a heart attack, he would have reached that threshold quickly and been pain-free at the time of his passing.

      Everyone dies. I'm not pretending it's fair that your boyfriend was taken away from you so early in life but at the very least, his death was quicker than most. I know that's probably not comforting to you now but compared to being in a car wreck when no one knows where you are, getting diagnosed with cancer or another terminal illness, dehydration or starving, means hours or even years of suffering. At the very least, he was spared some pain - and he had you by his side in his last moments. While this is torture to you, it was the best thing you could have done for him during his death. Your bravery then, and now as you continue on for your daughter, gives me the kind of hope I can't stop thinking about all day.

      I really hope this reply finds you doing better than when you wrote this question. Please, don't give up. The world needs strong women like you. Your daughter needs you most of all.

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  • Short4Words

    I can't say why it happened or pretend to know. But I what I do know is that you are here now, if you have any spiritual belief know that. You're still here now for a reason. For me, when my Father died, a similar way mind you, it took me a while to see it, but I realized that if he didn't leave us, I would never have really loved my mother, or grown up to become a man, I still am. That helped me some, but Kelili has a point, you have new life to look after and there is hope in that and also you. I hope you find some closure.

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