Heart disorder mistaken for snoring

NORTHUMBERLAND, England: A mother threw her boyfriend out of bed because of his snoring – then realised he was dead.

The gasping sounds Lisa Lee had heard were in fact her 25-year-old partner’s dying breaths.

After turning on the lights, she found that Lewis Little was “purple” and not breathing. She called an ambulance, but paramedics were unable to save him.

Little suffered from a rare heart condition called Brugada syndrome, which can result in rapid heart rhythms that cause potentially fatal palpitations.

He had begged doctors to be fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a device that restarts the heart in case of problems. However, they had ruled he was a “low risk” sufferer, and because his family did not have a history of heart attacks, he did not need the device.

Lee is now worried that their 2-year-old son, Tyler, may have the hereditary condition, and has started a petition to give people with the rare condition the option of having an ICD if they want one.

“We were told that Lewis would have a long, happy and healthy life, but he died one year after diagnosis,” the 25-year-old mother said.

The couple, from Ashington, Northumberland, had gone for regular check-ups. However, Lee said they were assured that Little was a low-risk case and would be able to live a normal life. He was not prescribed medication.

A spokesman for Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust said: “If Mr Little’s family have any concerns about his treatment, we would urge them to talk to us.”

Brugada syndrome is a rare heart condition caused by problems in the heart’s electrical activity. Sufferers can experience blackouts, seizures and palpitations and death. The syndrome, which is more likely to affect men, is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. – Daily Mail