February is Heart and Stroke month and a local heart attack survivor says when it comes to heart health, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Ray Perreault suffered a heart attack this last October. He notes at first he didn’t even realize he was having heart trouble.

"It was literally just back pain and I woke up wondering 'where did this back pain come from' thinking 'did I do something at work the day before?' I go through the motions, try to go back to bed. I figured you know what, 'I’ll grab a shower and maybe the water is going to release the tension', that didn’t work. I made it to the fridge and then all of a sudden it dawned on me, 'okay this is not normal'."

Perreault says he went to the hospital that morning and after doing a few tests he found out he was having a mild heart attack. He notes his doctors told him back pain is not a relatively common symptom for men when they are having a heart attack. He adds he had to have an angioplasty and get a stent put in to get one of his arteries flowing again and he is almost back to normal activity.

"I think the biggest thing they tell you is to keep your stress down. With today’s lifestyles that is a big thing to adjust to. You know I am a musician, I play drums, I do vocals and we do performances occasionally and I have gotten back to that already it is just now a slow process to get my breath back. It is just a matter of realizing I can’t go 110% right now, let’s go 75-80 and then push from there."

Perreault says at age 55 he didn’t expect to have a heart attack, but heart disease does run in the family. He notes you should never take your heart health for granted no matter your age and he is now recommending his friends pay closer attention.

"It is in conversation. I am a talker so at the end of the day I do not mind talking about my situation if it brings up something of theirs which gets them to go in and get checked. Everybody always says well ‘I don’t want to bother the doctors and stuff like that.’ When it comes to your health and especially your heart, I think you should go in."