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Life with an ICD: “My ICD saved my life”
Michael Munson had an ICD fitted after he had a sudden cardiac arrest while running a marathon in 2017. He shares how his ICD has since saved his life.
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Mike, 69, a retired account director at BT, is now a health walk leader in his home town of Stowmarket, and he has set up a group for fellow cardiac arrest survivors in Suffolk.
He says: “When I first had the ICD, I joined a sudden cardiac arrest survivors’ group so I could have other people to talk to. I had been told that being shocked by the ICD would be like being kicked in the chest by a horse, so I wasn’t looking forward to that at all. But in fact when I had my first shock, in 2018 when I was out doing some light jogging, it was more a feeling of not being able to control anything and I blacked out.
My family were very worried about me – they wanted me to be careful. The ICD has fired again when I was out walking with friends. It was a shock when it happened, but I never thought I would die.
Within a fraction of a second, I was back in normal rhythm
When they showed me the printout of my heartbeat in hospital, I thought, what a wonderful thing that this little ICD is inside me. My heartbeat looked like the shutting down of a computer and then within a fraction of a second, I was back in normal rhythm. It was brilliant.
If it had never shocked me, I would be sitting here wondering if it works. I know inappropriate shocks can be a problem for some people. I was lucky because my ICD shocked me when I needed it and saved my life.”
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Building confidence after an ICD shock “Getting used to the ICD took quite a bit of doing. I felt anxious at first.” Read Elizabeth's story |
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Learning to see the positives
“It does feel like I’ve had some special enhancement to make me more robust.” Read Becky's story |
Published 25 February 2022
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