Signs of heart attack: Marathon runner reveals the ‘intense’ sensation he felt just before cardiac arrest

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “And that’s pretty much the last thing I remember, everything just going black.” Jonathan’s heart had stopped beating and he remained unconscious for four minutes while St John Ambulance volunteers rushed to resuscitate him, using a defibrillator. After leaving the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Jonathan was then referred to the Inherited Cardiac Conditions unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, but he said doctors were “baffled” and were unable to find a cause for the cardiac arrest. “That also comes with a profound sense of gratitude for an existence on the whole, but also the ability to have continued existence, which wouldn’t have been possible if the team didn’t do what they did on the day.” Jonathan was lucky enough to meet the volunteers who saved his life in November through the Ask Me campaign for St John Ambulance, which he described as “incredibly moving”. “Thank is a very small word for the depths of gratitude that we have, and hopefully, in my ham-fisted way, I was able to convey our appreciation of what they did for us that day to them.” To further demonstrate his appreciation, Jonathan is undertaking the challenge of completing four half marathons over eight months to raise vital funds for the charity.