A BLACKBURN woman has revealed the trauma that family members of heart attack victims can suffer in a national TV campaign.

Karen Tuffy was chosen to star in the British Heart Foundation campaign along with her mum Sue Tuffy, who was rushed to Rochdale Hospital after suffering a heart attack five years ago.

The 34-year-old recruiter, from Beardwood, Blackburn, said she still got upset when thinking about the message she received telling her that Sue was ill.

Karen said: “My mum texted my boyfriend ‘ambulance quick’ because she couldn’t speak.

“I didn’t know it was a heart attack until I got to the hospital, but knew my mum suffered from angina. Fear was my first emotion when I was told. I thought I was going to lose my mum.

“I lost my dad to a brain tumour just before my 21st birthday.

“Even at hospital my mum was trying to shield me from what happened, through the oxygen mask she was telling me she would be all right. The monitor showed she was on her way to having another heart attack.”

Sue, who has made a complete recovery, was transferred to Manchester Royal Infirmary and given a angioplasty operation to open up a blood vessel.

Karen said: “I wanted to know more and came across the British Heart Foundation and the website – the resources were fantastic.

“I thought heart attacks happened to people who were elderly, not someone like my mum who was relatively fit with low cholesterol.”

Karen said she was chosen for the campaign, which will also see posters and leaflets distributed, after being contacted by the British Heart Foundation.

The campaign is designed to highlight the impact heart problems can have on families.

Nick Radmore, head of social marketing and brand at the BHF, said: “The power of Sue and Karen’s story and the raw emotion they show is much stronger than any actor could have given us.”