Cycling grandad's life saved by quick medical intervention

Researches from the University of Leeds were able to record exactly what was happening to his heart during the incident, and warned him to immediately stop cycling.

He said: \"The next day, I got a call. They said, 'Stop riding your bike, don't do anything more strenuous than walking until we can get you in here because we think you need an ICD implantable cardioverter defibrillator.'\"

It was revealed he needed the device because he had experienced ventricular tachycardia, an abnormally fast heartbeat where the ventricles do not pump blood around the body effectively, which can lead to cardiac arrest.

Mr Cookson has since returned to cycling after being fitted with the implantable defibrillator, which will shock his heart if an abnormal rhythm reoccurs.

The university's study found nearly half of older male endurance athletes over 50 had scarring in their hearts which increased the risk of these episodes.

Dr Peter Swoboda led the British Heart Foundation-funded study and said the results \"shouldn't put people off regular exercise\" as the study focused on a select group and not all had scarring.

He said: \"In our study, the athletes who experienced dangerous heart rhythms often had symptoms first.

\"I'd encourage anyone who experiences blackouts, dizziness, chest pain or breathlessness, whether during sport or at rest, to speak to their doctor and get it checked out.\"

Mr Cookson said: \"When I started out in cycling, people thought that taking part in endurance sport would as good as guarantee your heart would stay healthy.

\"Over the past few years, we've learnt that it's not quite that simple.\"

According to the source: BBC.