Bianca Dye reveals terrifying moment she thought she was losing her life

A year after she was controversially sacked from SeaFM, Bianca Dye suffered a four-hour panic attack. This is why.

An hour into her flight from Bali, the entire right side of Bianca Dye’s body went numb.

The 51-year-old was struggling to breathe and shaking uncontrollably. With her mind flashing to memories of her own grandmother, who died young from a heart condition, she was certain these were her dying moments.

Instead, she endured another four and a half hours of this pain – which was not a heart attack but a panic attack. As someone who has been a staunch mental health advocate for years, Bianca was shocked.

Shocked that she was having her first panic attack in years, and shocked that she almost didn’t recognise it for what it was.

Almost a year after she was controversially sacked from the Sea FM Breakfast show, Bianca has survived many moments of grief and anxiety along the way, but none have been so physically painful or intense as this episode.

“Last year, I lost my job without warning, lost my income, my sense of identity, but I didn’t have a panic attack. I’ve been in a DV scenario before, no panic attack. I had a relationship end and with it my dream of motherhood, no panic attack,” she said.

“All these times when it would have made sense to have a panic attack, and it happens when I’m stuck on a plane on the way home from Bali. Maybe it just took a year to process the pain, maybe something triggered me, but it was horrific.”

Bianca Dye. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

While Queensland Health states the ‘average’ panic attack lasts from a few minutes to half an hour, Bianca’s beast lasted for hours and hours, until she passed out from the terror and exhaustion.

But the most shocking aspect of the attack was the lack of awareness from airline staff as to how to help her.

As an ambassador for this Thursday’s RUOK Day, Bianca is asking more workplaces to educate staff on mental health first aid. It’s a compassionate plea that makes plenty of sense, given that statistics show up to 40 per cent of Australians will have a panic attack at least once in their life.

“I was sitting at the very back of the plane, next to two people who were asleep so I couldn’t get past them, when it hit,” she said.

“I couldn’t move, I’ve never felt anything like it. I really thought I was dying. Part of my brain was saying to me, Bianca, you know what this is … it’s a panic attack, you’re okay, just breathe. But then another part of my brain was sure this was the end.

“I curled up in the chair in the foetal position and was just rocking. I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin, like there were ants underneath, or I was going to pass out or have a stroke … or all of the above.

“Unless you’ve gone through that experience, it’s hard to explain how physically traumatic it is.”

Bianca Dye said she was telling her story because she wanted people to know not to “feel ashamed” if it happened to them.

Bianca said she finally woke her fellow passengers so she could seek help, but that only made it worse.

She said while the airline host was kind, she also panicked.

“She asked me if I was okay, and I said I’m not, but then she really didn’t know what to do. I thought I was going to pass out so I wanted to ask for a pillow to lie down but I could see, even in that state, that would freak her out more.

“I just told myself to breathe, to make a joke so she doesn’t think I was insane and try not to faint or die. I felt I was looking after her more than she was of me. It was genuinely the worst experience.”

While Bianca eventually landed back at home with her body feeling slightly more normal, she said the marathon panic attack took its toll in the following days.

She described it as a ‘hangover’, with her stomach upset and her body physically exhausted.

And it highlights another element necessary in panic attack education – the awareness that while we can’t see what has caused this anxiety response, the trauma experienced by the body is just as real as an actual life-or-death situation.

“I want people to know not to feel ashamed if this happens to you. I get it, I’m a mental health ambassador and I felt that stigma immediately afterwards, but I know it helps if I tell my story … just like the ABC newsreader who had a panic attack on air.

“Gosh, the difference he made, what a hero.”

It might seem ironic, but the message here is that if you see someone struggling, do not panic. But do get educated about how to help.

Because with almost half of us set to experience a panic attack, it could be you who one day needs the help of some calm reassurance from a stranger.