Susan Lucci 'lucky to be alive' after emergency heart procedure

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Susan Lucci on the Moment She Won Her Emmy

Legendary soap actress Susan Lucci of "All My Children" recalls the moment she finally won her Emmy at the 26th annual Daytime Emmy Awards in an exclusive interview with Fox News Magazine.

Susan Lucci said in a new interview she's "lucky to be alive" after undergoing an emergency heart procedure last fall.

The legendary soap opera actress said when she first felt a tightness in her chest in the fall, she attributed it to being tired.

"I told myself, it’s nothing, it will go away,” says the 72-year-old actress told People. Lucci said when she felt pain "radiating around my rib cage" 10 days later she thought she had "fastened my bra too tightly."

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But when it happened for a third time on October 23 while the actress was shopping Manhasset, Long Island, she said, “It felt like an elephant pressing down on my chest.”

That's when a store manager at the shop Lucci was at offered to drive her to a nearby hospital where a CT scan revealed 90 percent blockage in Lucci's heart's main artery and 70 percent blockage in another branch.

"Ninety percent blockage — I was shocked," Lucci told the magazine. "I'm lucky to be alive." A doctor placed two stents into her arteries.

The "All My Children" star said she hopes sharing her story will help others.

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"I'm not a nurse or anyone who can help in any real way," she said through tears. "This is the way I can help. I can tell my story. Everyone’s symptoms are different but I felt compelled to share mine. Even if it’s one person I help. That is someone’s life."