George Davies was a passionate marathon runner, but after one training session he was left feeling lucky to be alive.
Twenty years ago, George was out with a group of fellow athletes on a training run before suddenly collapsing amid a heart attack. Doctors saved his life that day, discovering he had a ventricular tachycardia (VT), which is an abnormal heart rhythm.
“I was fit and thought I was incredibly healthy at the time. If someone had told me that you could die from a heart problem, by doing exercise that you loved – I’d have been very surprised. I never expected a heart attack to happen to me," George explained.
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Now George is helping Manchester schoolchildren to learn CPR techniques at the first event of its kind in the city.
“I was incredibly lucky doctors managed to save me then and I’m still incredibly lucky to be alive,” says George. The 75-year-old from Darwen, was fitted with a device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which acts like a pacemaker but also shocks the heart, if needed.
His resilience meant he battled on with his condition for another 10 years. But eventually doctors told him there was nothing more they could do and unless he had a heart transplant - he would die.
After another touch and go experience, George went to the top of the transplant list at Wythenshawe Hospital. Nine years on, he is still enjoying life with a new heart.
Despite the terrifying near-death experience, George never lost his love for sport. He is a coach at Blackburn Harriers and Athletics Club.
But he warns that life-saving techniques should be taught in schools as heart complications can happen to anyone, including those who appear fit and healthy - something George knows all too well.
“I think CPR should be taught in all schools," he said. "It’s vital to make children aware that any heart complication can happen to them, no matter how fit they are. Especially if they’ve been born with it and don’t realise.
“They might experience something they need to pay attention to, during sports day, playing football, or in the playground. That’s why it’s so important to give them basic life-saving skills, as it could be the difference between life and death for one of their friends or family.”
George spoke at a special Your Heart Hospital event, alongside some of the country’s top cardiovascular experts, to fifty Year 10 pupils from Trinity High School, Abraham Moss, Manchester Enterprise Academy, Manchester Communication Academy and Loreto High School.
With the help of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Wythenshawe Hospital, it was the first time the British Cardiovascular Society had allowed schoolchildren at their annual conference, held at Manchester Central Convention Centre in May.
Cara Hendry is a Consultant Cardiologist at Wythenshawe Hospital and Vice President of the British Cardiovascular Society. She is also George’s doctor and helped to educate the pupils on the day.
Cara says: “It’s such a fantastic opportunity to share our expertise on how to treat patients in cardiac arrest and teach life-saving skills, with children from the local Manchester area.
“It’s a great gift of knowledge and learning that we have to offer, with the specialists that have kindly given up their time. We’re hoping there will be many more events like this.
“It’s so vital that we think ahead and encourage more of our pupils to go into healthcare careers too, as they are the future of tomorrow.”
Your Heart Hospital was founded ten years ago, by Dr Miles Dalby, a consultant cardiologist at The Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, who also attended the event.
He said: “To demystify what happens to patients in a heart hospital, to teach resuscitation skills and to introduce school children to the wide variety of healthcare careers that are available.”
