Personal trainer took on run to give others hope

WIDNES triple cardiac arrest survivor who became a personal trainer to provide hope to others has taken on the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

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Stephen Edwards, 39, a former office manager and keen mountain biker, who retrained as a personal trainer after suffering severe depression following three successive cardiac arrests, took on Sunday's run to give hope to others who may feel their “life is over.”

Stephen was at home in bed in July 2017 when he started to feel unwell. His then partner drove him to Warrington General Hospital where he was given an electrocardiogram (ECG).

He was told initially that he had probably had a panic attack, but three hours later while still under observation, he suffered his first cardiac arrest and was resuscitated by hospital medics.

As he was being wheeled to an ambulance to take him to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Stephen had a second cardiac arrest and then a third during the ambulance journey.

Stephen was told he had had a heart attack and needed a stent fitted in a blocked artery. Doctors told him that this caused his cardiac arrests.