Teen Warns Others After Doctors Ignored Chest Pain Before Collapse
Seventeen-year-old Evelyn Walker from Hertfordshire, UK, is urging others to trust their bodies after collapsing from cardiac arrest during class. What began as a “normal morning” quickly turned tragic when she experienced mild chest pain, felt nauseous, and suddenly blacked out. She remembers nothing until waking up in the hospital days later.
Teachers at her school acted swiftly, performing CPR and using a defibrillator to restart her heart, which had stopped for five minutes. She was later airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for three days.
Evelyn had previously reported chest pains to doctors, but they dismissed her symptoms as anxiety—never investigating further. Now recovering with an internal defibrillator implanted, Evelyn is speaking out.
“I’m frustrated. If I were older, maybe they’d have taken it seriously,” she said. “You know your body better than anyone.”
Her mother, Jennifer, has since launched Young Hearts UK, raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in youth. She stresses the importance of CPR and AED training: “Twelve young people under 35 die each week from SCA in the UK.”
