Raewyn Shaw survived a major heart attack, and is collecting for the Heart Foundation during its annual Big Heart Appeal to fund research into cardiac disease and the next generation of health workers.  

The critical fundraiser will see hundreds of volunteers collecting across New Zealand. 

Raewyn Shaw was more than 200 metres offshore when she felt physically unable to swim another stroke. 

She was having a heart attack, not that she realised - there was no pain, and the loss of energy and urge to cough were the only symptoms. 

It was mid-afternoon on Labour Day 2023. The 59-year-old caregiver had gone to Maraetai Beach in East Auckland, after attending to a nearby 91-year-old client. 

She met Jim Hainey, a member of her ocean swimming group, and the pair set off. 

Shaw - who took to the open water as a release during the Covid-19 pandemic - powered out to a buoy about 250 metres offshore. 

She had most of that distance to make it back to the beach when she was overcome by utter exhaustion. 

“It was getting a little bit more choppy and windy … I said to Jim, ‘I’m f**ked’. Excuse my language, but that’s what I actually said. 

“‘I just cannot - I’ve got no more energy to swim back any further.’ I looked ashore and I thought, ‘I can’t do it.’ I did not have anything in my tank.” 

Shaw quit smoking 13 years ago after a breast cancer diagnosis. Out in the deep water, she coughed and spluttered like she still had the habit. 

Hainey, a former professional lifeguard, told her to hold her tow float, and helped her to within about 100m of the beach. 

Jim Hainey and Raewyn Shaw at Maraetai Beach. The pair were swimming together in 2023 when Shaw suffered a heart attack. Photo / Michael Craig 

He yelled out to two nearby paddleboarders, Shannon Clemmet and Kirsten Swart. 

“She kept saying she really wasn’t feeling good. The swell had picked up, water kept going into her face. She was really struggling,” Clemmet told the Herald. 

“Kirsten - being the phenomenal person she is - said, ‘I’ll paddle her in holding on to my board’.” 

Swart dropped to her knees and, grabbing Shaw’s arms, got her upper body on to the board. Still on her knees, she battled back to shore, with Clemmet and her partner, who was in a kayak, sticking close by. 

In the shallows Shaw tried to walk, but her legs - starved of oxygen - were jelly. Clemmet ran to the nearby yacht club, and a member followed her back with a first aid kit, and wrapped Shaw in a foil blanket. 

An ambulance arrived and paramedics confirmed she’d had a heart attack - shocking Shaw, who’d always assumed chest pain would accompany one. 

It was also surprising to Clemmet and Swart, who learned of the diagnosis later that day. A heart attack hadn’t crossed their minds. 

“She just said she was struggling to breathe. And it was as if she wanted to vomit. We assumed she might have swallowed water,” Clemmet said. “She didn’t once say her chest was sore … we honestly thought she was having an asthma attack.” 

Shaw spent four days in Middlemore Hospital. A stent was put in one blocked artery to increase blood flow, but her main artery was too narrowed and damaged for such a procedure. 

She is waiting for a cardiologist appointment, but her GP has told her none has been booked yet, and the hospital services are short-staffed and struggling with demand. 

“It’s scary for me thinking, ‘How long have I got?’ You start thinking the worst.” 

Hainey, a motivational speaker, has helped to turn those thoughts around - regularly catching up with Shaw, who cannot currently accompany the group on ocean swims. 

He views the heart attack as an early warning system, to improve areas like diet and health, and eventually come back stronger than ever. 

Shaw, who has a family history of heart problems - her father and uncles died young from cardiac issues - has cut out indulgences like butter, and lost around 7kg. 

“I’m eating a lot of bloody salad wraps at the moment. I’m on blood-thinners and cholesterol medication. 

“I’m grateful that I made it. I’m trying to be healthy and just live each day like it’s your last, you don’t know what’s around the corner … my goal is to make 60 this year and have a party.” 

Shaw is one of hundreds of volunteers collecting donations for the Heart Foundation’s “big heart appeal”, which runs over Friday and Saturday, February 23-24. 

“It’s our largest single fundraiser. We are incredibly grateful to the generosity of New Zealanders,” said Gisborne Hospital cardiologist Dr Gerry Devlin, the Heart Foundation’s medical director.  

“The donations help us research locally into how we can improve the heart health of New Zealanders. And also train the next generation of researchers, and the next generation of cardiologists to go overseas and bring back techniques that hopefully we all benefit from.” 

The Heart Foundation's Big Heart Appeal street collection is on today across the country. Photo / NZME 

It is vital to understand what contributes to heart disease among our specific populations, Devlin said, and bolster a health workforce currently stretched thin. 

Shaw’s experience showed the common symptoms of a cardiac problem - including chest discomfort, feeling sick and sweaty - aren’t always present. 

“Women are more likely to have atypical symptoms, such as just feeling dreadful fatigue or just profound nausea, and we don’t really understand that. Yes, the common symptoms are still the common symptoms, but don’t ignore other symptoms, particularly in women.” 

Interviews for this story were done before the death of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins on Wednesday morning. The Green Party MP and community leader collapsed during a ChildFund Water Run charity event in Auckland. His cause of death has not been confirmed. 

Pacific Heartbeat, a part of the Heart Foundation that aims to reduce the high rate of heart disease among Pacific New Zealanders, paid tribute to Collins in a statement on social media: “We have lost a wonderful leader, advocate and friend. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, children, aiga, friends and all those whose lives he touched. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” 

The Heart Foundation Big Heart Appeal street collection 

Heart disease claims more than 6500 lives a year. The Heart Foundation has funded more than $90 million in heart research and specialist training since its formation in 1968. 

Donations can be made to street collectors today or online at heartfoundation.org.nz/big-heart-appeal.