'Puzzling' heart attack in a 37-year-old Cornwall man

Mike Scott, 37, seen here with his wife Tia, unexpectedly suffered a heart attack.

A 37-year-old Cornwall man is in the ICU at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute tonight. Without warning, Mike Scott, of Cornwall, suffered a heart attack 9 days ago.

The father of two is a non-smoker, is active and eats right. A week ago Sunday, he collapsed in his Cornwall home and was rushed to hospital.

“We were told he doesn't have the heart of a 37-year old-man,” says his wife, Tia Scott.

Mike underwent a quadruple bypass, had a stent implanted, and doctors say two-thirds of his heart isn’t working.

This morning, nine days after his heart attack, Mike awoke from a medically induced coma.

Now his family is trying to figure out why this happened.

“These kinds of incidents are always puzzling both to families and professionals alike,” says Dr. Andrew Pipe, Chief of Prevention and Rehabilitation at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Dr. Pipe says that aside from risk factors, like smoking, diet and exercise, often genetics is to blame.

“Making sure the blood pressure and cholesterol levels are appropriately managed,” says Dr. Pipe, “especially if there is a family history of cardiovascular disease.”

The Cornwall community is now rallying around the Scott family. A Facebook support page offers words of encouragement, and friends are crowd-funding to help cover the cost of Tia's daily commute to the hospital.