Eulalee Thompson

Before his four heart attacks,70-year-old J.D. Pennant was on a two-pack-a-day cigarette smoking routine and he ate just about anything, with no care in the world, but he has been forced to change.

Mr. Pennant also says that now, retiring from the life of a policeman, he is trying to take his 'new life' 'as easy as possible' and is not doing "any heavy lifting."

Took two aspirins

It was in 1995 that Mr. Pennant discovered that he had heart disease. He has high blood pressure, but admitted that he wasn't taking it seriously.

"When I had the first attack, I was at work and I took two aspirins. I and been doing my ECGs as part of my regular check-ups, but they didn't find any blockage," he said.

The ECG or electrocardiogram actually records the electrical activity of the heart; these tests, Mr. Pennant said, became a part of his regular check-ups when he started to complain frequently of feelings of tiredness and as if his heart would stop beating momentarily.

He had three heart attacks since the first one in 1995. The second one, though, really frightened him.

On the plane

J.D. Pennant at home, tending to his plant which is popularly called 'The Bells of St. Elizabeth' because they grow in vast amounts throughout the parish. - Photos by Noel Thompson

"I was returning from Chicago in 2005. I was sitting on the plane when I felt my chest starting to tighten up, my limbs died, I couldn't hold a pen. Absolutely nothing was done on the plane, but they speeded up to get me into Kingston," he said.

At the airport's medical centre in Kingston, Mr. Pennant said that he ordered two aspirins. He said, however, that the worst part of the ordeal was that the ambulance service demanded payment of $15,000 before they would move him to the hospital. He didn't pay it but the police came to the rescue and took him to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was admitted for two days.

It was just last October that Mr. Pennant had the fourth heart attack while he was doing a stress test at a hospital in the United States.

"When they pumped the dye through the heart, they said that I would feel some discomfort, but my chest started tightening like a balloon; that was 11:30 a.m. on October 10, 2006, and that was the last I knew until 9:00 p.m. the following day," he said.

When he woke up, he wasn't sure where he was but, he has come a long way since then; he said that his shortness of breath and the tightness of the chest are going away.

Left: Mr. Pennant and his six-year-old son Jodayne. Right: Tethering his goat called 'Miss Daisy'.

email: eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.

For healthy living

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death, disability and hospitalisation. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer, accounts for 56 per cent of deaths annually in Jamaica. To prevent heart disease and other chronic illness, Jamaica's healthy lifestyle study recommends:

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables which does not lead to weight gain.

Daily physical activity.

Taking alcohol only in limited amounts.

No smoking as tobacco, even from second-hand smoke, can harm the heart.

If you have been living well with any chronic condition, wewant to hear your storiesof triumph. Write to: Healthc/o The Gleaner Company,7 North Street, Kingston;email: eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com;

Telephone: 922-3400.