On the path to an amazing recovery

Anne Helsby and her husband Will walked a 26-mile stretch of the Cleveland Way to raise funds for Arrhythmia Alliance’s Hearts & Goals campaign to tackle sudden cardiac arrest.

Anne, 47, collapsed on the way back to her car after she and Will went to see Take That play in Manchester. Thanks to the quick intervention of bystanders she was saved.

Will, a 47-year-old director of sales with Best Western Hotels, said: “What happened to Anne was a bolt out of the blue for the whole family. Anne has always been very healthy and had never had any problems at all.

“None of us had ever even heard of sudden cardiac arrest. We were just totally shocked by the whole thing.”

Anne and Will have already raised more than £1,000 for Arrhythmia Alliance’s Hearts & Goals campaign, a high-profile drive to tackle sudden cardiac arrest, with former England footballer Fabrice Muamba acting as ambassador.

Fabrice suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the pitch in March 2012 and went on to make a full recovery after having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted in his chest – the same device that Anne had fitted following her cardiac arrest.

Recalling Anne’s collapse, Will said: “I remember us walking back to the car and she just collapsed next to me. I didn’t know what was going on. We were so lucky because there were still hundreds of people around who had left the concert.

“Almost immediately two nurses who had seen what had happened were performing CPR on Anne and then a consultant came over and he helped as well.

“They kept her alive while an ambulance arrived and then paramedics use a defibrillator to administer shocks.

“Anne was so lucky and she owes her life to early intervention from bystanders who knew CPR. She has gone on to live the life she had before and we all just feel very lucky.

“With what happened to Anne in mind, we all felt fundraising for this worthy cause which can help get lifesaving defibrillators into communities was a great way of marking her amazing recovery.”

Through Hearts & Goals, Arrhythmia Alliance has helped to put more than 160 AEDs (automated external defibrillators) in communities up and down the UK. AEDs do not require training and can be used by anyone to shock a person’s heart back into normal rhythm if they suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. They increase the chance of someone surviving from five per cent to 50 per cent.