Captain Sandy Yawn, star of Below Deck Mediterranean, is taking care of business. She is a leader in a career mostly dominated by men. Cancer tried, but Sandy beat it. And she overcame a life-threatening motorcycle accident. Throughout the many personal challenges Sandy has faced in her life, she has pushed through with a staunch positive attitude and forayed that into becoming one of Bravo’s most-discussed celebrities.
Even if Captain Sandy isn’t your cup of tea, with her penchant for giving hugs and exasperation of Chief Stews who take too many meltdowns smoking breaks, there is one thing that cannot be denied. Sandy is a badass. Recently, Sandy experienced another harrowing medical incident. Now she is using her platform to raise awareness and share some advice we could all probably stand to hear. Listen to your body, y’all.
Sandy is no stranger to crisis. No, I’m not talking about the walking, talking crisis that is Hannah Ferrier. I mean real-life crisis situations. This is a woman who faces adversity head-on, from being surrounded by gunboats while adrift in the Red Sea to her partner’s recent cancer diagnosis, Sandy doesn’t quit.
After experiencing some questionable symptoms during a SoulCycle workout, Sandy can tack another bullet onto her already impressive resume. Heart attack survivor. According to People, Sandy was doing her thing at a SoulCycle class. She began feeling some subtle signs and decided to take action. “I remember thinking I was going to clip off the bike so I don’t fall, I didn’t want to disrupt the class, and I certainly wasn’t going to call 911 in the middle of Beverly Hills,” Sandy explained.
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She didn’t want to disrupt the class, you guys. Meanwhile, I would be writhing on the floor and crying for my mommy. Not Sandy though.
Remaining as calm as possible, she… called an Uber. “So I decided to call an Uber, and then I called my sister — and I survived.” I guess level heads do prevail after all. Thankfully Sandy recognized the signs and symptoms and acted accordingly. Remembering what she’d heard from physicians regarding the warning signs that could indicate a heart attack for women, Sandy said she felt “odd”.
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“I could not swallow. I was watching my heart rate on my watch and it didn’t go down, and I started to feel lightheaded. I didn’t have any numbness, then when I got off my bike and walked outside, I started to feel the tingle in my left arm, exactly how described,” Sandy shared.
Sandy had previously undiagnosed high blood pressure and it led to spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a tear in the heart’s blood vessels. “My health is great and it was great. That’s misleading to think that you have to be unhealthy to have a heart attack, that is not it. My veins are clean. I didn’t know I had high blood pressure, so as a result, I had what’s called SCAD, which they don’t have a lot of information on … I didn’t have blockage, it was a tear.”
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Sandy also mentioned her prescription for Adderall might have had something to do with the incident. “I have a hard time focusing — until I’m docking a boat, that’s when I can laser-focus because it’s so intense — and …”
Sandy revealed, “I had a prescription of Adderall. I started taking the prescription as prescribed, and I believe it was a combination of the Adderall, topped with the high blood pressure and on SoulCycle.” She has since stopped taking Adderall as a result.
After four days in the hospital, Sandy was released. Now she’s using her experience in partnership with the American Heart Association to raise awareness for heart health. So glad this story has a happy ending and Sandy was able to turn her scary episode into a teaching moment for others. Best wishes in her health and continued efforts moving forward.
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TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED SANDY HAD A HEART ATTACK? DO YOU KNOW WHAT SIGNS TO LOOK FOR? WILL SANDY’S EXPERIENCE HELP OTHERS?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]