Ashley Whelan, who lives in Manchester, says he saw his heart race rocket to 200 bpm during his first Hyrox event and then began to feel sharp pains when he finished the competition
A fitness fanatic has told how he suffered a heart attack at the end of a Hyrox event having thought the symptoms were “race day nerves”
Avid gym-goer Ashley Whelan had been training for months to compete in the fitness phenomenon in November, which is a global fitness race that combines running and functional workouts.
The 37-year-old had been interested in fitness since his late teens, competing in Muay Thai boxing events in recent years, and was excited to challenge himself further with the gruelling competition.
But on race day the site manager said he ‘didn’t feel right’ and put the strange feeling down to ‘race day nerves’ as it was his first Hyrox. Ashley, who lives in Manchester, grew more concerned when his heart race sky-rocketed to 220 bpm while completing his last lap.
After finishing the race, Ashley began experiencing sharp pains across his chest, arms and back, prompting him to be checked over by the on-site paramedics. And, an ECG test revealed Ashley was in the middle of a heart attack and required urgent care.
Ashley was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered a blockage in his left coronary artery – and were forced to shock him with a defibrillator when his heart began beating irregularly.
Luckily, Ashley has made a full recovery but is now warning others about the importance of listening to your body. He said: “My friend actually put me forward for Hyrox and asked if I wanted to do it with him and I said absolutely. I felt good in the lead up to it, training was really good and I felt really fit. My friend actually went to Thailand so I ended up doing it solo.
“On the day of it, I was a little bit nervous to do the race. I started doing the race and there was some intuition that something in the background of myself wasn’t quite right but I put it down to race-day nerves. The way that I’ve trained my mindset through fighting is to ignore the inner voice telling you to stop.
“I was pushing myself but not pushing as hard as I could’ve been. It was only on the last lap when I looked down at my watch and my heart rate had gone up to 220 bpm. My max heart rate I’d had was 190 bpm and I’d only peaked at that once or twice during training.
“Seeing my heart rate was that high, I knew something wasn’t right and slowed down the pace. It started coming down slowly. I was running at half the pace.” After finishing the race, Ashley began feeling more and more restless and decided to seek medical help when he experienced pain down his chest, back and arms.
Ashley said: “I told them about the pains in my chest and they put me on an ECG where they confirmed I was having a heart attack. I was in disbelief. I knew I had to be calm because there was no point in panicking. The pain was like a ball of fire in my chest trying to break through my ribcage.”
Ashley was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital where an angiogram revealed a blockage in his left coronary artery. However, when doctors noticed Ashley’s heart was beating irregularly, they feared he may go into cardiac arrest and decided to shock him with a defibrillator.
Ashley was hospitalised for five days and placed on blood-thinner medication to help eradicate the clots caused by an arterial tear. He said: “[Being shocked] was horrible. It was like running straight into a brick wall at 30mph. It was that sort of feeling. It was instant pain but the pain from my chest dissipated instantly. It removed one of the clots that had been there.
“They told me I’m very lucky, it kills people that type of heart attack. I’m very thankful for the team at Hyrox that were very quick with their actions. It’s still up in the air as to why I got this clot but when I’ve looked into it, deep emotional stress and high-intensity exercise can cause it.
“I was intensely working out six days a week, working nine or ten hours a day and working on my house at the weekend. I think I was burning the candle at both ends. I look back and think I’m so lucky to be alive. I put it down to the strength of my mind and body to pull me through that.
“I’m living proof that it can happen to ultra-fit people as well. It’s a case of listening to your body. The mentality of powering through all the time isn’t always the way to be.” Ashley’s gym is now raising money to help purchase a defibrillator for their venue.
