A 58-year-old smoker with high LDL has crushing chest pain; ECG shows ST elevation. This is plaque rupture — decades of oxidized LDL deposited in the coronary wall formed an atherosclerotic plaque; its cap tore, platelets and clotting (thromboxane-driven) sealed the artery in minutes. Aspirin (blocks thromboxane) + clot-busting/thrombectomy restores flow. The biochemistry — LDL oxidation, inflammation, thrombosis — is the decades-long fuse and the minutes-long explosion.