Derbyshire man marks a year since surviving a heart attack with a special walk for the BHF

Dean Swift, 41, from Dronfield, had completed a morning workout at the gym last year when he suddenly felt unwell.

He said: “I felt incredibly sick, and then felt a pain spread to my shoulder and arms but I thought that I’d just done a little bit too much at the gym as, at the time, I had no chest pain whatsoever.

Dean returned home, but the pain and sickness persisted and several hours later, he began to feel worse and asked his partner Emma to take him to A&E.

At Chesterfield Royal Hospital, tests confirmed he had suffered a heart attack and would need urgent intervention.

Dean continued: “It was absolutely devastating to receive that news.

“I went to the gym three times a week and ate a healthy diet.

“Emma was in the ward with me and she was eight months pregnant at the time.

"I was worried about the impact it would have on her and terrified that I might not be there for the birth of our first child.”

Dean’s heart attack was caused by a blockage to one of his coronary arteries.

He underwent a procedure where a stent was fitted to widen the artery, improving the blood supply to his heart.

Less than three weeks after the heart attack, he was by Emma’s side when the couple welcomed daughter Phoebe into the world.

Now, to mark the one-year anniversary since his heart attack, Dean was joined by a group of friends for an 11-mile walk in the Peak District which raised £800 for the BHF.

Dean, who works as a software engineer, said: “It was the furthest I’d managed to walk in over a year.

“It’s fantastic to know that the money I have raised will go towards the research of the BHF.”

Paula Scaife, BHF’s fundraising manager for Derbyshire, said: “It’s amazing to hear how far Dean has come since his heart attack and we are so grateful that he chose to raise funds for the BHF in his anniversary walk.”

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