Ebbw Vale mum saved by husband after going into cardiac arrest with Brugada syndrome

Initially Jordan Lewis thought his wife Leah Lewis was having a bad dream but soon realised she was unresponsive and performed CPR on her for 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived.

Leah,29, a maths teacher at Idris Davies school, Rhymney, was shocked twice with a defibrillator and paramedics were able to get her heart back into a normal rhythm.

Leah said: “I love my husband 10 times more for helping me still be here and raise my daughter – I wouldn’t be here without him.

“He is a hero – I literally came back from the dead.

Jordan, Olivia and Leah picture: Lydia Miller (Image: Lydia Miller)

Jordan, Olivia and Leah picture: Lydia Miller

“I have two birthdays now – my actual birthday and my rebirth, the kids at school call me iron man.

“I’m on medication for the rest of my life and I think to myself just get on with it.”

Leah suffered her cardiac arrest last November and spent five days at Heath Hospital, Cardiff where she was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome.

Brugada syndrome is a rare, hereditary condition that affects the electrical impulses that pass through the heart – there is a chance Leahs daughter Olivia, 2, may have the condition.

Leah has been fitted an ICD – an internal defibrillator that detects any life – threatening, rapid heartrate which shocks the rhythm back to normal.

Leah said: “I have had two shocks this year – the first one I grabbed onto my daughters changing table and blacked out, but I felt no pain – it was only when a phone call from the hospital who said I had a shock.

Leah has returned to teaching picture: Lydia Miller (Image: Lydia Miller)

Leah has returned to teaching picture: Lydia Miller

“The 2nd time I felt dizzy – when the shock happened it felt ultimately as if someone had punched me.

“The force was strong enough to move me and I felt immedateely better afterwards.

“The only real change I’ve had to make is that I can’t use the trolley escalators as it could affect my ICD because of the strong magnetic force.

Mum Lydia Miller described the initial incident as a ‘scene from casualty’.

Lydia who has lived in Ebbw Vale for 9 years said: “I was super calm, by the time I got there it was a scene from casualty, there was two ambulances, paramedic cars and fire engines.

“It was horrific - Jordan is my absolute hero and me and my family are forever in his debt.

“Everybody kept saying to me if it wasn’t for Jordan and how well he did CPR she wouldn’t have had a chance.

“I will never let him forget that he saved her life – I ordered him a t- shirt with superhero on it and she has a t shirt saying nice chance heart I’m still alive.

Leah and Lydia picture: Lydia Miller (Image: Lydia Miller)

Leah and Lydia picture: Lydia Miller

“The air ambulance man said to me if she does come around, we don’t know the level of her disability she’ll have – I was ready to quit my job and be her carer.

“She’s back teaching now, she amazes me every day – she says to me look I’m still alive.”

Lydia expressed that without the ICD her daughter would be dead.

Lydia said: “Leah describes the ICD as a superhuman hitting her chest and feels immediately better after.

“What’s so hard to swallow is that its genetic thing, I have been tested and haven’t got it but it’s likely Leah’s dad does have it.

There is a chance Olivia may have the condition picture: Lydia Miller (Image: Lydia Miller)

There is a chance Olivia may have the condition picture: Lydia Miller

We won’t know whether Olivia has it until she’s 18.

“Hopefully in a couple of years advancements will be made and they’ll be able to detect if Olivia does have it, so she won’t have to sit with crossed fingers until she’s 18.”

This month is sudden cardiac arrest month and Leah’s work - HR Department South East Wales, Ebbw Vale are working with SADS UK to raise funds for a defibrillator to be fitted near their office in the Rassau Industrial Estate.

Lydia expressed that putting a public defibrillator on the outside of the building will increase the chance of survival if someone suffers a cardiac arrest.

Joseph Jenks Social Media and Marketing Assistant at HR Department, Ebbw Vale said: “With Brugada syndrome some people who have it can experience symptoms such as: blackouts, fits (seizures), occasional heart palpitations, chest pains, breathlessness and/or dizziness, while others suffer no symptoms at all.

“It can also happen at any age.”