Susan Lucci, 76, looks half her age at the American Heart Association’s Go Red event as she talks about her heart attack: ‘Women helping women’

Susan Lucci does not seem to age. This week the soap opera actress looked sensational at 76 on the red carpet.

The diva lit up the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection Concert in New York City.

She had on a scarlet red strapless gown that came in at the waistline and had a mermaid finish.

‘Telling my heart story at yesterday’s beautiful GO Red for Women luncheon at Tavern On The Green! Such passionate leaders and survivors—so inspiring to hear their stories!❤️❤️❤️,’ she wrote on Instagram on Friday.

She then said it was all about ‘women helping women.’

Also at the event were Mira Sorvino and Demi Lovato.

One night in January, discomfort was radiating around her rib cage. She was short of breath. Something definitely wasn’t right.

But it was late in the evening, and she didn’t want to bother her doctor. At first, she didn’t even tell her husband. She went to bed.

‘I was just going to let it all go,’ Lucci said to the AHA. ‘Then I felt a sharp pain in the left side of my jaw. I had read that can be a symptom for women having a heart event as well. It really kind of woke me up.’

Urged by her husband, she finally called her cardiologist at home. He didn’t hesitate.

‘He said, “I’ll meet you at the ER. Call me when you’re close,”‘ she said.

By morning she had a stent implanted in a coronary artery that was 80% blocked, potentially avoiding a serious heart attack.

‘You can never really tell how quickly it could have happened, but certainly within a year,’ said Dr. Richard Shlofmitz, chairman of cardiology at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York. He diagnosed the problem and performed the procedure. ‘It’s like if you have a log in a river and some twigs get attached. It just builds up.’

Years earlier, the actress had her first cardiovascular episode, when doctors discovered that two other arteries were blocked, one 90% and the other 75%.

Lucci had ignored mounting symptoms for a couple of weeks until crushing chest pain finally sent her to the hospital. Two stents – small wire mesh tubes that widen clogged arteries and ensure adequate blood flow to the heart – quickly fixed the problem, and probably saved her life.

‘Life returned to normal very quickly,’ said the actress who lives on New York’s Long Island. ‘I was on stage two days after I was discharged, and life continued to be wonderful.’