On a cool damp Sunday in November, 22-year-old Courtney Stocks dropped dead in her garden.
She didn’t smoke or drink, and walked 10,000 steps every day to her dog grooming business in Derbyshire.
Nonetheless her heart stopped for an agonising seven minutes as her father Chris Watchorn rushed to perform CPR.
‘It was a normal Sunday,’ Courtney, from Ilkeston, recalls. ‘My mum and dad had come around to see me. I’ve been told I was sitting on the sofa talking to my family when my dad went outside to take a phone call.
‘Apparently a couple of minutes later I went outside to follow him, which is when I collapsed in the garden. That’s when my dad heard me, came running down the garden and started CPR.’
Despite no underlying health conditions, Courtney would soon learn she had mitral annular disjunction (MAD) – a structural abnormality of the heart that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
She’d been experiencing heart palpitations and light–headedness in the weeks leading up to her hospitalisation but dismissed it as anxiety, but her MAD was triggered by stress.
‘I completely blacked out, I was gone. I was dead for seven minutes,’ Courtney says.
‘I was healthy. I’ve never had any health issues – I don’t smoke, vape or even drink. I walk 20 minutes to work every morning and do nearly 10,000 steps every day.
‘I’m a dog–groomer so I have quite a physical, hands–on job.’
Courtney had been so fit and healthy, in fact, that she hadn’t been to the doctors since she was eight years old.
Her dad performed CPR until the ambulance came to take her to Royal Derby Hospital, where she spent four days in intensive care, before being moved onto the cardiac ward.
After undergoing a number of tests, it was then doctors told Courtney she had mitral annular disjunction and had an implantable defibrillator fitted to prevent further cardiac arrests.
‘It was quite a shock, especially because I’m only 22 and fit and healthy,’ she says. ”Looking back, I did have heart palpitations every now and again – I just put that down to anxiety, but that obviously was a sign.
‘I also used to get quite light–headed and dizzy, especially in the shower, and had to put the cold shower on. I just assumed it was nothing.’
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These symptoms became more persistent leading up to November 16, when Courtney collapsed, and she believes work–related stress of running her dog grooming business played a big part.
‘Because I was born with it it was going to happen sooner rather than later but [doctors] did say to me that stress brought it on sooner,’ she adds.
‘I am quite a stressy person. All the little things just got on top of me. It’s very stressful at work, I do come home [feeling that way] a lot. I think it took its toll.’
Now, Courtney is urging others not to ignore their own symptoms after nearly losing her life, while her partner Ellie Powers has launched a fundraising page to help cover her living expenses while off work.
‘I never would’ve assumed it was something so serious. I wouldn’t be here without my dad. I would’ve died,’ she explains.
‘If you have any signs that you think something could be wrong, just don’t brush it off, even if you’re the fittest, healthiest person.’
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