Primary school deputy head teacher, Jolie, was leading the morning praise assembly at school when she collapsed in the hall with a cardiac arrest. The fit and healthy mum to daughter Daisey, who was just 2 at the time, never thought this could happen to her.

Jolie's friend and colleague Louise, who was trained in CPR and had recently undergone a refresher course, quickly stepped in. Louise performed CPR until the paramedics arrived on the scene.

Thanks to Louise’s quick thinking, Jolie is here today – but she still doesn't have all the answers. Jolie doesn't yet know what caused her cardiac arrest. For some, a cause is never found.

These ‘unexplained cardiac arrests’ are therefore difficult to predict and difficult to process as a survivor. We need a better understanding of the cause, to provide better support for those affected.

This is why British Heart Foundation (BHF) is funding research that seeks to help solve this dilemma.

Hunting the genetic clues behind unexplained cardiac arrests

"You’re always going to have some unknown answers, and I think continuing that research is important...that research gives you a bit of hope for the future." - Jolie

Thanks to your support, BHF is funding Professor Elijah Behr and his team as they aim to identify new, currently unknown, genetic changes that are linked to cardiac arrest.

Professor Behr and his co-lead investigators in Germany and the Netherlands will assemble the largest ever group of unexplained cardiac arrest survivors. They will explore the whole genome of 900 survivors and compare them to the genomes of 5,000 people who have not had cardiac arrests.

By doing this, the team hope to be able to pinpoint DNA sequences that appear more often in people who have had cardiac arrests. Once these sections of DNA have been identified, the team hope to figure out why they may cause these life-threatening events.

This research has the potential to offer hope and clarity to people like Jolie and their families, and could revolutionise how we understand, treat, and prevent cardiac arrests.

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