‘I FEEL AS FIT AS EVER’ AFTER HEART SCARE
A60-YEAR-OLD cardiac arrest survivor has told how he feels as fit as he was 20 years ago after taking up cycling as part of his recovery.
Gordon Neilson suffered a cardiac arrest in May last year, but he survived thanks to the quick actions of his wife and two neighbours who performed CPR until the paramedics arrived.
Once stabilised, he was rushed to hospital where he remained on a ventilator in the intensive care unit for 10 days.
Gordon, from Bearsden, was diagnosed with ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm, and had a procedure to fit an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) to monitor his heart rhythm, as well as two stents.
He said: “I know I am extremely lucky to survive. Only one in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Scotland, so I’m forever grateful to my neighbours who performed CPR for 15 minutes before the paramedics arrived.
“I woke up in hospital, shocked and disorientated, with no memory of a couple of days before my cardiac arrest.
“It was an extremely tough time. We were in lockdown, so my wife and family couldn’t come and visit me at all.
“It wasn’t until the nurses gave me a leaflet about cardiac arrests that it dawned on me what had happened and how lucky I am to be alive.”
After three weeks, Gordon was discharged and returned home to his family. He started walking as part of his cardiac recovery.
He added: “At first, I could only walk for 10 minutes before I was knackered. Ten days later my walks were at 30 minutes. Soon I was up and walking for an hour a day every single day, some days I would walk for two hours.
“I decided to see how I felt cycling but it’s quite hilly where I live and was a lot harder than walking. I spoke to my cardiac rehab team to develop a plan to help get me cycling and invested in a heart monitor so I could keep an eye on my heart rate.
“I started cycling, initially just 30 minutes on a wee circuit near where I live before going out onto the open roads.”
Gordon went on to take part in the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) virtual cycling challenge, MyCycle, to raise money for the charity’s research.
He said: “I have always enjoyed cycling and used to cycle to work. It’s helped regain my fitness. I’ve cycled up hills I haven’t cycled for 20 years. I feel as fit as I was 20 years ago and I’m more than a stone lighter than I was before the cardiac arrest.”
MyCycle has three different challenges to choose from: 100, 200 or 300+ miles over 30 days. It doesn’t matter how you cover the distance, whether you’re inside or out on the road.
To sign up, you can bhf.org.uk/mycycle online. visit