TOP photographer Charlotte Graham is recovering in York Hospital after suffering a heart attack.

Charlotte, 58, from near Malton, has urged other people who suffer the sort of warning signs and symptoms which she had experienced before the attack not to ignore them - as she had.

She tweeted: "If ever I could offer one piece of advice, it is do not ignore what your body is telling you.

"I am in hospital because I have ignored my body. I am only alive because of my partner Alison, who called for help."

Charlotte, who has won a host of awards over the years, including Commercial Photographer of the Year and shortlisting for Photographer of the Year, and whose work regularly appears in national publications such as The Telegraph, The Times and The Observer, as well as local newspapers including The Press, said she had been suffering from pains in her arm for a couple of months.

"I just thought I had pulled a muscle," she said.

She said she also developed chest pains and then, on Wednesday, felt more intense pain and, feeling very tired, said at about 6.30pm that she was going to bed.

However, Alison decided she needed medical help. "She said I looked terrible and sounded terrible," said Charlotte.

"She was going to call an ambulance but I said to call 111 and they said she needed to call an ambulance.

"The ambulance crew were fantastic; they stayed with me for four and a half to five hours in a corridor at York Hospital A &E before I was admitted.

"Staff at the hospital are fantastic as well.

"The ECG didn't show a heart attack but the platelets did, they went through the roof. "I am OK, just having to rest up while a plan is made for my recovery."