Feilding's Wendy Laurence had no idea her back pain could suggest she was having a heart attack.
She didn't even have high cholesterol.
But on November 11, 2017, with the pain getting worse, she got up feeling just terrible, constricted and really unwell, and it dawned on her she could be having a heart attack.
She was rushed to Palmerston North Hospital for intensive care, then taken by ambulance to Wellington Hospital, where a stent was inserted to re-open the damaged artery feeding blood to the heart muscle.
Within days she was home with her information pack from the Heart Foundation, on the mend, but feeling a little fragile.
Laurence said realising she was having a heart attack, at the age of 55, was especially frightening for her because her father had died from one when he was 56.
She said while most people knew someone who had had stents inserted, the sad reality was that heart attacks killed, an estimated one New Zealander every 90 minutes.
She realised she, too, could have died.
Laurence said getting in touch with the Heart Foundation had been a great help for her, to understand what had happened, to hear other people's stories, and gain the confidence to get on with life and daily exercise.
She has become a great supporter of the foundation, and is a volunteer who will be out on the street collecting for the Big Heart Appeal on February 22 and 23.
"I was more than willing to give something back to the Heart Foundation because they had helped me get back on my feet and put my mind at ease."
As well as encouraging the support aspect of the foundation's work, Laurence was particularly keen to see more research on improving heart health for New Zealanders.
While understanding the importance of healthy exercise and diet for preventing heart disease, Laurence said there were other factors to be understood.
In her own case with its unusual symptoms, it was not the typical high cholesterol that triggered her heart attack, but the after-effects of a period of having high blood pressure that had created a blockage in her artery.
She said rattling a bucket for the foundation was an easy task, and she encouraged others to volunteer as well.
"People are really receptive to you when you're collecting and want to talk about their own experiences of heart disease." People who are prepared to help can volunteer here.