Wrexham solicitor speaks out about dangers of hidden heart disease after cardiac arrest

James Bagby has told how he and his brother were diagnosed with the condition after James collapsed with a cardiac arrest while going out running in the heat on holiday in North Wales.

His life was saved by an off duty trainee nurse and he was treated and discharged from hospital after the incident.

Now James and his twin brother Jon, 47, have decided to speak out about their experiences in the hope that it will help others, particularly as the UK is experiencing a number of heatwaves this summer.

James was running in Porthmadog while on holiday with his wife Paula and daughters Hannah and Sophie.

James and Paula Bagby

Airlifted to hospital

Fortunately for him, off duty trainee nurse Charlotte Haywood from Malpas, saw him and recognised that he was in difficulty.

He had stopped breathing and Charlotte performed CPR on James, while one of her friends called for help.

Paramedics then used a defibrillator to save James's life and he was airlifted to Bangor Hospital, before being later transferred to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital for specialist treatment.

It was there that James, a solicitor, was diagnosed with this hidden heart condition by consultant preventative cardiologist Dr Scott Murray.

And when Dr Murray found out that James had a twin brother he asked to see him too and ran a number of tests including a CT scan and an electrocardiogram, which revealed that Jon had the identical blood vessel issue.

Successful treatment

James Bagby

Jon was then able to receive treatment including statins and the treatment has been so successful that he even competed in the Castle Howard half marathon at the weekend.

James and Jon are now keen to speak out about their experiences following the incident in Porthmadog, which happened in 2014.

James said: “On the first morning of a two-week family holiday to our favourite place in Porthmadog in Wales I decided to go for a 10-mile run.

“After completing the Paris Marathon earlier in the year, I was in training for the Dublin Marathon and a quick run along Black Rock Sands seemed like a good idea.

“I left my wife Paula and two young daughters Hannah and Sophie at our caravan, programmed my smart watch with a running route and set off.

“When I got to the beach the tide was in so I had to run a different way, which took me up a big hill. I was 8 miles into my run and remember it being a very hot day. It was so hot that I later learned that two servicemen had died on training exercises in the Brecon Beacons that week.

“I don’t remember much of what happened next because I only woke up in hospital two days later.

“At some stage while struggling up the hill, and very dehydrated, I collapsed at the side of the road. I don’t know how long I was lying there before I was spotted.

“But I was incredibly lucky because Charlotte Haywood just happened to be heading home after camping overnight on the beach with some friends when she recognised I was in serious difficulty.

Faulty gene

He added: “It turns out that Jon and I both share a faulty gene that can’t handle bad cholesterol very well, which results in a build-up of plaque in the arteries, and that he was equally at risk of a cardiac arrest, which could happen at any time.

“His ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol level was very high, at 8 – anything above 3 mmol/L often leads to statins being recommended - and there was a 51% plaque blockage in his arteries, similar to my levels, and putting him at high risk of restrictive blood flow to the heart, which increases the risk of a heart attack. He had no symptoms.

“What I had gone through was bad enough, but hearing that my twin was equally at risk of the same thing happening to him was dreadful.

“I’ll always remember Dr Murray’s words when he said, following all the tests, that Jon was in a far better position now because he knows he has got a problem and something can be done about it. More often you don’t know there’s something wrong until you are in an ambulance on your way to hospital, like me.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who helped to save my life and I’m incredibly grateful to Dr Murray for saving my twin brother’s life too.”

Both twins are now on statins for life to reduce the level of cholesterol, along with an ACE inhibitor and a daily dose of aspirin. They also both have annual blood tests, eat healthily and if they do go for a run they always take our phones and make sure they’re trackable.

Genetic risk

Dr Scott Murray, who now works at Warrington-based Venturi Cardiology, said: “The investigation of asymptomatic but potentially vulnerable atherosclerosis is not yet a major focus for clinical cardiologists.

“But after learning that James had an identical twin brother, who was also a keen athlete, we thought it was important to carry out a series of investigative tests.

“These revealed he was at the same genetic risk of silent coronary artery disease as his twin and harboured a compositionally identical lesion in a coronary vessel that had not yet ruptured to cause an event.

“I feel very strongly that high risk patients, particularly those with a family history of premature myocardial infarction (MI) or death, should be screened with cardiac CT initially, to try and observe any high-risk plaque disease in development.

“This often intensifies both the preventative medical treatment and lifestyle advice that can be given. It also sends out a clear warning signal to the patient that they have coronary artery disease despite showing no symptoms. Forewarned is forearmed and it is great to hear that this has been sustained and they are both still well to this day.”