Emily Brown
A British teenager is urging people to pay attention to your own body after she went into cardiac arrest while at school after suffering 'mild chest pains'.
Evelyn Walker, from Hertfordshire, UK, has insisted she was just having a 'normal morning' in February this year when life as she knew it came to a terrifying end.
She described getting up, having breakfast and walking to school with her friend, where she arrived at about 8:30am.
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"I felt fine that morning. Everything was normal until I started getting chest pains," she recalled.
The 17-year-old 'began feeling sick', and before she knew it she 'collapsed'.
"I don't have any memories of the event. I completely blacked out. I just remember waking up in hospital a couple of days later," she said.
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It was only after the incident that Evelyn learned what had happened. After she'd collapsed, staff jumped into action by trying to perform CPR, with one teacher grabbing the school's on-site defibrillator.
Staff alerted the school's medical officer, who shocked an unconscious Evelyn twice in a desperate bid to restart her heart.
Evelyn believes her heart had stopped for five whole minutes before she was stabilized, after which she was rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge to be placed in a three-day coma.
Her mom, Jennifer, described the ordeal as the 'worst moment' of her life, saying: "I was in bed asleep having a lie in and heard my phone going then just saw the word 'ambulance' on my phone.
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"I just thought Evelyn had bumped her head or fallen over. Then the police were on my doorstep and I just thought she was dead. It was absolutely awful."
Jennifer went to her daughter's side, noting that 'nothing like this had ever happened before' as Evelyn was a 'healthy, vibrant young girl'.
Even prior to being hospitalized, Evelyn noted there were no major red flags that doctors were aware of.
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The 17-year-old had previously experienced 'mild chest pains', prompting her to go to the doctor.
However, medics 'just put it down to physical symptoms of anxiety', and her pains 'never got investigated', she said.
Evelyn believes she may have had an underlying heart issue, with tests leading doctors to believe that the teen may have abnormalities in her heart.
However, the medical cause of her cardiac arrest is still under investigation.
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"We still don't know if that [the chest pains] was linked," Evelyn said. "I'm quite frustrated I was just told it was anxiety, just because I'm a young person. I'm sure if I was over 60 complaining of chest pain, they would've looked into it further."
Evelyn remained in hospital for a month after she collapsed before being fitted with an internal defibrillator to prevent any similar incidents in the future.
Now, Evelyn is urging people to be mindful of any symptoms they may experience.
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"My outlook on life has really changed," she said. "I thought I was young and healthy and nothing like this would ever happen to me...
"Don't just assume doctors are right. You know your own body better than anyone else and if you think something is off then don't be afraid to push and get it investigated. Heart problems can affect anyone."
To help raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in young people, Jennifer has launched a Facebook page called 'Young Hearts UK' and hopes to encourage more people to have CPR and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) training.
"[Sudden cardiac arrest] is fairly rare for young people but not unheard of. In fact, 12 young people under 35 die each week in the UK from a SCA. That's why we want people to know CPR and to know where their nearest defibrillator is," the mom said.