Nichele Hoskins

Overcoming fear to share her strength

You might think a 36-year-old woman who taught exercise classes and edited fitness articles for national health magazines wouldn't have to worry about life-threatening cardiac problems. But as Birmingham, Alabama's Nichele Hoskins discovered in 2003, no one is resistant when it comes to heart attacks.

Hoskins, former fitness editor of a Birmingham-based health magazine, suffered 2 mild attacks in a matter of months, and twice had 3 stents inserted in her coronary arteries to open blocked blood vessels. After battling depression and gaining weight, she has bounced back with vigor, attitude, and the hope that sharing her story with women will encourage them to actively lower their risks of heart disease.

"My message is to stay active, reduce stress, and know the early signs of heart problems," she says.

Today, Hoskins, 39, is fitness editor for Baltimore-based Heart & Soul magazine, which she covers health, fitness, beauty, and spiritual concerns of African-American women, and she teaches a Spinning^® class at the Birmingham YMCA. She also is a patient advocate/spokeswoman for WomenHeart, a Washington DC-based non-profit organization dedicated to spreading the message that heart disease is the number one killer of women and to promoting its early detection, accurate diagnosis, and proper treatment.

Hoskins is grateful for every opportunity she has to share her message. Her story provides unique, first-person insight into how and why heart attacks are different for women and inspires survivors to find the confidence to exercise again.

Nichele Hoskins is a WomenHeart patient advocate. For information about WomenHeart, visit womenheart.org.