In April 2018, Darren had a cardiac arrest at home. Luckily, his wife Lydie was trained in CPR and did chest compressions until the ambulance came, saving his life. A rare condition called amyloidosis affected his heart and he had 3 more cardiac arrests in hospital.
Darren was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) but found his cardiac recovery challenging, especially walking and moving as normal. As someone who had always been very physically fit, he found this tough. He eventually received a heart transplant in late 2018, which gave him hope for the future.
“A heart condition is not the end, nor is a transplant, life can and does continue. I’ve been there and I came out the other side and I’m now enjoying life.
In the years since coming home from hospital, Darren has gone from strength to strength. He can now do the things he wants to do. He’s trained as a counsellor, recently completing a university degree and has set up his own practice. Darren now helps people who’ve been through difficult experiences.
Researching cardiovascular risks in Black African-Caribbean communities
There are around 7.6 million people in the UK living with cardiovascular disease. British Heart Foundation (BHF) is committed to understanding how people of different ethnicities may be at different levels of risk. We have a long history of funding research that supports this goal and we continue to do so, giving people hope.
Dr Lydia Simpson, at the University of Bristol, is exploring why Black African-Caribbean (BAC) women are at greater risk of high blood pressure and high-blood-pressure-related stroke. Her research will explore whether BAC women’s blood vessels respond differently to stress compared to other groups, potentially leading to small vessel disease, which is a major cause of stroke.
BHF has also funded a clinical trial called AIM-HY, which is examining whether treatment for high blood pressure can be improved by taking a person's ethnicity into account. The study enrolled BAC, South Asian and white European participants who were asked to take different combinations of blood pressure lowering medications for up to 8 months. The results, expected in 2025, could help create better high blood pressure treatments for different ethnicities, helping to give patients more time with their loved ones.
