The Chinese curriculum really is more difficult.
We’ve all experienced math anxiety at one time or another. However, one Chinese father became so frustrated while supervising his son’s homework that he suffered a heart attack.
The nearly fatal incident began last month when the 45-year-old Shenzhen resident, surnamed Liu, started helping his third-grader with his nightly math assignments for the new semester, according to a report by the hospital. He noticed that he would experience slight chest twinges whenever he became flustered while trying to explain a problem.
It came to a head during a particularly trying session on Sunday, when the impromptu tutor said he would repeat the same question to his son over and over to no avail. Out of the blue, he experienced an intense chest pain and shortness of breath, before inexplicably fainting.
Realizing something was awry, Liu reported to the Third People’s Hospital in Shenzhen the next day, whereupon he began convulsing and foaming at the mouth before passing out yet again. Fortunately, medics were able to revive the man and stabilize his condition.
Subsequent examinations revealed that Liu suffered from a myocardial infarction, in which his main coronary artery was almost completely blocked, effectively cutting off the blood flow to the heart. Cardiologist Dr. Gao Hong said Liu’s condition was sparked by intense emotion — the frustration he experienced while overseeing his son’s schoolwork.
Specifically, Liu’s agitation caused his blood pressure to spike, which in turn damaged his blood vessels and heart, Gao said, adding that his longtime smoking habit didn’t help the matter.
Fortunately, through emergency surgery, Liu was able to avert an arithmetic-induced fatality and is currently recuperating at the hospital.
He should thank his lucky stars as Dr. Gao said Liu’s predicament would have been “unimaginable” had he not reported to the hospital.
This isn’t the first time someone has experienced a stress-induced heart attack. In April, patients made headlines after suffering from coronaries that reportedly may have been triggered by the stress of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, research has shown that intense emotional episodes can literally break someone’s heart.