Watch Tina's Story: Sudden Heart Attack Leads to Advocacy

While doing a training swim across a lake, Boulder resident Tina Pittman Wagers suffered a sudden heart attack caused by a rare cardiac condition. Watch the inspirational story of how this clinical psychologist reclaimed her active lifestyle—and became an advocate for helping other survivors.

“It was such a scary time in my life and my family’s life, that I felt an enormous amount of relief that I was in the hands of someone who was knowledgeable and an expert," Tina says about Molly Ware, MD, her cardiologist at BCH's Boulder Heart.

Just as important, she says,Tina forged a personal connection that was vital to her recovery. "The first thing Molly asked me was, 'Tell the story of what happened to you,'" she recalls."I knew immediately I was in the hands of a doctor who would treat me as a person with a life—not just a diagnosis."