Superfit mum’s cardiac arrest horror – the warning sign she ignored

A superfit personal trainer who collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest has issued a stark warning: don’t ignore tiredness—as it could be a sign of deadly heart problems.

Emma Houldsworth, 43, had been out walking her dog near her home in Leeds, West Yorkshire, on April 26 when she suddenly felt exhausted and sat down on the pavement—before blacking out and stopping breathing.

Her partner Paul Tilley, who had learned first aid while working as a nightclub bouncer, rushed to perform CPR – breaking three of Emma’s ribs in the process.

‘Luckily my partner knows CPR so he pulled me away from the wall and started chest compressions,’ said Ms Houldworth.

‘He still had the dog, so he was trying to get him in between his legs. He started shouting and then there was an off-duty nurse who was passing.

‘She took over the CPR, somebody else came over and took the dog and another person ran to fetch the defibrillator from the working men’s club up the road.

‘An ambulance came and they were trying to keep me alive at the side of the road.

‘It’s just great that my partner acted so quickly and that he knew CPR because if he didn’t then I wouldn’t be here now.

‘Without all of those people working together it would have been a very different story.’

Emma was shocked with a defibrillator three times before her heart began beating again. 

She was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary and placed in intensive care for three nights.

She said: ‘Sometimes we’ll go hiking in the mountains where we’re far away from people so luckily we were in the street just up from where we live and there were plenty of people around.

‘I’m just so grateful. It’s like it was meant to be that that nurse was passing at the time.

‘There are lots of circumstances where things could have been really different—it’s just really lucky that things happened in the way that they did on that day.’

Emma, who works long hours as a PT, says she had no major symptoms in the lead-up to her collapse—only tiredness and a feeling of being ‘run down’.

‘I’m really healthy, I really look after myself. I eat really well and exercise regularly.

‘But I often work 13-hour days and I’m quite stressed a lot of the time. I wasn’t prioritising my own self care – all of things that I encourage my clients to do.

‘I think that contributed [to the cardiac arrest].

‘In the days beforehand I was feeling pretty run down and tired but I didn’t listen to my body and just pushed through it.

‘They were the only kind of warning signs that things weren’t right.’

Each year in the UK, around 30,000 people suffer a sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital — and fewer than one in ten survive to 30 days.

In the US, the numbers are even starker: more than 350,000 people experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, and around 90% of them die. That’s roughly 1,000 sudden collapses a day—often with no prior warning.

Cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack. It occurs when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions and suddenly stops beating—and unless CPR and defibrillation are given within minutes, it is almost always fatal.

While it is more common in older adults, cardiac arrest can strike at any age—even in people who appear fit and healthy. 

In fact, around one in ten out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK happen in people aged under 45.

Risk factors include high blood pressure, stress, overwork, undiagnosed heart conditions, and even extreme physical exertion. 

Some victims, like Emma, have no prior diagnosis—making early warning signs such as persistent tiredness, dizziness, or fainting episodes all the more important to recognise.

CPR performed by a bystander can double or triple survival chances, but fewer than half of those who collapse outside hospital receive it before emergency crews arrive.

Since her cardiac arrest, Emma has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator to help regulate her heartbeat—and is now focused on slowing down and looking after her own health.

‘I want to work less hours and concentrate on making sure that I’m getting enough rest.

‘I also want to concentrate on my training, getting out on walks, going to yoga and spending time with the people I love—all of the things that I enjoy.

‘This experience has definitely shifted my priorities.

‘It’s taught me that you can’t just brush things off when you’re busy, or try and push through when you’re run down.

‘It’s about listening to your body. If something’s feeling off then it probably is so it’s about prioritising yourself and not just looking after other people the other time and making sure you’re looking after yourself.

‘I always thought that when people have heart problems that it just affected old people or that it was from years of smoking and drinking or not looking after themselves.

‘I love walking and hiking and training. I eat well and I do look after myself so I never thought that anything like that would happen to me.’