Fitness fanatic, 37, suffers heart attack at Hyrox finish line after blaming ‘ball of fire in chest on race-day nerves’
A FITNESS fanatic suffered a heart attack moments after completing his first Hyrox event – having mistaken his symptoms for “race day nerves”.
Avid gym-goer Ashley Whelan had been training for months to compete in the fitness phenomenon, which is a global race that combines running and functional workouts.
The 37-year-old, who had been interested in exercise since his late teens and competed in Muay Thai boxing events in recent years, was excited to challenge himself further with the gruelling competition.
However, on race day in November, the site manager said he “didn’t feel right”.
He put the strange feeling down to “race day nerves” as it was his first Hyrox.
But Ashley, who lives in Manchester, grew more concerned when his heart rate sky-rocketed to 220 beats per minute while completing his last lap.
After crossing the finish line, Ashley began experiencing sharp pains across his chest, arms and back, prompting him to be checked over by the on-site paramedics.
An ECG test revealed Ashley was in the middle of a heart attack and required urgent care.
He was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered a blockage in his left coronary artery and were forced to shock him with a defibrillator.
Ashley has made a full recovery but is now warning others about the importance of listening to your body.
He said: “My friend actually put me forward for Hyrox. He asked if I wanted to do it with him and I said, ‘Absolutely’.
“I felt good in the lead up to it. My training was really good and I felt really fit.
“But my friend actually went to Thailand so I ended up doing it solo. And on the day, I was a little bit nervous.
“Once I started, I could tell something wasn’t quite right, but I put it down to race-day nerves.
“The way that I’ve trained my mindset through fighting is to ignore the inner voice telling you to stop.
“I was pushing myself but quite not as hard as I could’ve been.
“It was only on the last lap when I looked down at my watch and saw my heart rate had gone up to 220bpm.
“The maximum heart rate I’d had was 190bpm, and I’d only peaked at that once or twice during training.
“Seeing my heart rate was that high, I knew something wasn’t right and slowed down the pace.
“It started coming down slowly. I was running at half the pace.”
I look back and think I’m so lucky to be alive. I’m living proof that heart attacks can happen to ultra-fit people
Ashley Whelan
After finishing the race, Ashley began feeling more and more restless.
And when he experienced pain down his chest, back and arms, he decided to seek medical help.
Ashley said: “They put me on an ECG, which confirmed I was having a heart attack.
“I was in disbelief. I knew I had to be calm because there was no point in panicking.
“The pain was like a ball of fire in my chest trying to break through my rib cage.”
Ashley was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital, where an angiogram revealed a blockage in his left coronary artery.
When doctors noticed Ashley’s heart was beating irregularly, they feared he may go into cardiac arrest and decided to shock him with a defibrillator.
Ashley was hospitalised for five days and placed on blood-thinning medication to help eradicate the clots caused by an arterial tear.
Subtle signs of a heart attack
A HEART attack is when the supply of the blood to the heart is suddenly blocked.
It is a medical emergency and needs to be treated right away.
Around 100,000 people are admitted to hospital due to heart attacks every year in the UK, according to the British Heart Foundation.
That’s 290 each day, or one every five minutes.
Some symptoms, like chest pain, shortness of breath and feeling lightheaded or dizzy, can be fairly obvious.
But the signs aren’t always so blatant, the NHS warns. Other more subtle symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Pain in other parts of the body (it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms, jaw, neck, back and stomach)
- Sweating
- Feeling sick
- Vomiting
- An overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack)
- Weakness or fatigue
- Coughing
- Wheezing
A heart attack and cardiac arrest are similar, but not the same.
A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body.
“[Being shocked] was horrible,” he said. “It was like running straight into a brick wall at 30mph. It was that sort of feeling.
“It was instant pain, but the pain from my chest dissipated instantly. It removed one of the clots that had been there.
“They told me I was very lucky, that my type of heart attack kills people.
“I’m very thankful for the team at Hyrox that were so quick with their actions.
“It’s still up in the air as to why I got this clot but when I’ve looked into it, deep emotional stress and high-intensity exercise can cause it.
“I was intensely exercising six days a week, working nine or 10 hours a day and working on my house at the weekend. I think I was burning the candle at both ends.
“I look back and think I’m so lucky to be alive. I put it down to the strength of my mind and body to pull me through that.
“I’m living proof that heart attacks can happen to ultra-fit people. It’s a case of listening to your body.
“The mentality of powering through all the time isn’t always the way to be.”
Ashley’s gym is raising money to help purchase a defibrillator for their venue. You can donate here.