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"I flatlined for four and a half minutes - my mom thought she was going to lose her son"
In 2018, Matt Pohlson, CEO of Omaze – one of BHF’s charity partners – began to experience pain and swelling in his stomach. This extreme physical stress triggered a heart condition called takotsubo cardiomyopathy, which left him fighting for his life.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, sometimes referred to as ‘broken heart syndrome’, is a sudden and often temporary heart condition which can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack. It is often triggered by extreme emotional or physical stress, and can be life-threatening.
Matt Pohlson has helped raise a total of £3 million for the BHF. However, few know that he himself has personal experience of cardiovascular disease.
In 2018, one day at work, Matt’s stomach began to swell. He called his doctor friend for advice who told him to head straight to hospital. He was throwing a party that evening and was not expecting to be kept in overnight. However, as the pain became more and more excruciating, his condition deteriorated and his heart rate began to plummet.
“This all started when I was a baby – I was born with my stomach twisted in a knot. I had surgery to correct it back then, but freakishly, all these years later, scar tissue from that surgery broke off and created a bowel obstruction. The extreme pain and physical stress from the bowel obstruction ended up triggering takotsubo,” explains Matt.
As his condition became critical, Matt’s doctors were unaware that the bowel obstruction had caused takotsubo cardiomyopathy. He then went into cardiac arrest.
As Matt flatlined, his mother fought her way into the room. “When the nurse wouldn’t let her in, my mom said, ‘I was there when he came into this world – if he’s leaving this world right now, I’m going to be in that room,’” recounts Matt. “As they were doing chest compressions and defibrillating me, she said to me, ‘Matthew David Pohlson, these people are fighting to save your life. They’re fighting so hard to bring you back, but you’re not fighting hard enough. You need to fight harder.’”
After four and half minutes, Matt’s heart restarted. He then went immediately into a coma, but after a series of procedures and a difficult recovery, he is now doing well and has had no further issues with his heart.
“This experience has changed me profoundly. I was way more ego-driven before, I was more reserved with telling people I loved them. Now, I’m also way more loving to myself.”
What is takotsubo?
The word ‘takotsubo’ comes from the name of a pot used by Japanese fishermen to trap octopuses. This is because the condition causes the heart’s left ventricle (the main blood pumping chamber) to change shape. It develops a narrow neck and round bottom, making it looks similar to the octopus trap. This change in shape also makes it weaker.
Amelia Rudd, BHF Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, is looking into what factors influence recovery from this condition. Little is known about the people who have takotsubo, however, researchers have recently established a Scottish Takotsubo Registry – a database of all cases of takotsubo cardiomyopathy in Scotland since 2010, with links to health records. Amelia’s research is using this rich source of information to look at the characteristics of the people who have takotsubo, what other health conditions they have, and what types of medicines they tend to take before and after they were diagnosed.
“Recovery rates can vary, with some people still suffering with symptoms of breathlessness and reduced exercise capacity for many months after the event and in some cases even longer,” explains Amelia. “My main focus at this moment is data analysis – to get as much information as we possibly can. Then, I want to investigate whether there is a genetic element of takotsubo cardiomyopathy.”
Want to hear more from Matt Pohlson and Amelia Rudd?