Heart Attack Expert Needed for Help with Killing Character

Hi,

I need to kill off a pivotal character who has a family history of heart disease and is on cholesterol meds and and a BP med.

The setting is:
Male, 40ish
At home, at night, preferably in bed.
He can't linger for the EMTs to arrive.
His wife is on scene, but he needs to go quickly, as she can't save him.

I wrote a very short but dramatic scene based on my mother-in-law's description of my father-in-law's death—this involved foaming from the mouth—pink foam actually, from a mix with blood. She said his heart "exploded," which seems more common with people as an in-hospital post-attack occurrence than one that occurs on-site, and mainly seems to afflict people who've had previous stress or injury to the heart muscle. My father-in-law was older (57) at the time of his attack and had just exercised outdoors. He also had a history of multiple bypass surgeries, which my book character does not. So I am afraid now that my scene isn't really possible for a younger person at home, even with his family history.

I need it to be fast and somewhat dramatic (no going in his sleep, as the wife has to see it). If he suffers dramatic pain and goes quickly, might he foam at the mouth? I've read a lot about the possible symptoms and effects of heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest, but I am having a hard time putting them together into one believable description.

If it's fast, is it AMI, or sudden cardiac arrest? I know the first can lead to the second, so I've been using the second. For reasons I won't bore you all with, I want to use the right medical term, vs. the generic "heart attack."

Any facts and advice as to what behaviors and symptoms would fit with this scenario are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Palmfrond said:

Unfortunately, if he is alive when his wife sees him have the attack, his wife calls 911, and the paramedics arrive in any sort of reasonable time, the paramedics aren't going to declare him dead. They will start CPR, intubate him, maybe shock him, start an IV, give drugs, and take him to the ER. All this is almost certainly pointless, but they will do it anyway unless it's obviously too late (the body is cold).

Click to expand...

Well, he doesn't have to be declared dead at the apartment. He only has to be die. I can make that work. The point is that he's out, and EMTs can't save him. They do come to the house. I should have mentioned that. She calls 9-1-1; the husband just doesn't survive.

Thanks.

jclarkedawe, that first scenario could work. He does have the family history and meds, though.

Puma, thanks. The details are helpful, and I appreciate your willingness to share them. I will check out that search.

JrFFKacy, thanks for the detail. Very helpful.

rugcat, thanks for all.

Re: the foaming ... I think the situation my father-in-law suffered was atypical. Due to the sensitive nature of the event, I can't really ask my mother-in-law for details or help—which is too bad because she is an RN with loads of experience in this area. She would be an excellent resource, but it's just too close to home for her for me to be posing cold questions related to my writing.