WASHINGTON (7News) — Four Maryland siblings underwent heart bypass surgeries within five months after their brother experienced a mild heart attack. Friday is National Wear Red Day, which brings awareness to heart disease.
“I didn’t have any symptoms at all. Billy was the one who had the mild heart attack and pushed us to all start getting checked. And as we each got checked, we each realized that we have issues, and surgery was where we landed,” said sister Gina Cordova.
“Thankful that Billy, the, I guess, the strongest of all of us, heart-wise, had the heart attack,” said Tom Dove.”I think that was saving the other three of us for sure… I had no symptoms. I had zero symptoms… that’s why I’m still here.”
Cardiologist at MedStart Washington Hospital Center Dr. George Clements explained the rarity of the siblings.
“Very uncommon… to have four siblings all be found to have significant heart disease within span of just a couple of months is certainly unheard of to me, at least,” said Clements. To protect yourself, Clements suggested the following:
“It’s important to know your risk… Certainly having a family history of heart disease, especially at a young age… If you are one of those people, I’d recommend talking to your primary care doctor or seeing a cardiologist just to do some additional testing… We unfortunately can’t change our genetics, but we can change other risk factors.”
Four siblings underwent heart bypass surgeries within 5 months (7News).{ }
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