A heart attack changed her life. 18th-century dresses helped her find it again.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Kelley Thomas remembers the moment her focus shifted.

“It was the first time I stopped thinking about my heart attack,” she said, “And I started thinking about my future.”

As she recovered, Thomas found inspiration in an unexpected place.

While watching period dramas, she became captivated by the elaborate gowns she saw on screen.

“When I was healing, I was watching a lot of TV, and I was watching a lot of period dramas, and I was, like, I need to make one of those dresses,” she said.

Today, Thomas creates detailed 18th-century gowns that she wears to Versailles.

She has returned every year for four years, making a different dress for each trip.

“It’s like a fairy tale!” she said.

For Thomas, sewing became more than a hobby.

“Creating beauty in the world is a form of therapy,” she said. “I find sewing very -- almost, like, meditative. It really helped me to heal.”

Her recovery came after what she described as the most terrifying experience of her life.

In September 2019, Thomas went to the AdventHealth Orlando emergency room because she was having trouble breathing.

Doctors told her she was having a heart attack.

“I just thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to die,’” she said. “It was the most terrifying moment of my life.”

Thomas was 46 years old.

“I considered myself in pretty good health,” she said. “I didn’t know women really could have heart attacks. I certainly didn’t feel like I was at risk for one.”

Looking back, she believes she had been experiencing symptoms for several days.

“I had indigestion. I was very tired,” she said. “I believe I was having a heart attack for three days, which is another thing I didn’t know could happen.”

She also said she knew of no family history that suggested heart disease.

“I didn’t know of any family history. I didn’t have any symptoms,” she said. “I would have considered myself healthy. My grandmother died at 100. So, it just wasn’t on my radar. It was the biggest shock of my entire life.”

After her heart attack, Thomas said she experienced severe panic attacks for the first time in her life.

Today, Thomas shares her story because she hopes other women will recognize what she did not: Heart disease accounts for about one in every five female deaths in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I had no idea that heart attacks were the No. 1 killer of women,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about female heart attacks. That is why I try to tell as many people as I can.”

Thomas credits the care she received at AdventHealth with giving her that future.

“AdventHealth saved my life,” she said. “And they actually put me on a path that I would never have been on if it wasn’t for that moment. AdventHealth absolutely saved my life. They healed me. (And) there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about them and think about what they did for me.”

To hear Thomas tell her story and see more of her dresses, watch the video at the top of this article.

The cardiac program at the AdventHealth Heart, Lung and Vascular Institute is nationally recognized and delivers world-class, whole-person care close to home. For more information, click here.