Dale Lockwood, 34, came home from work in October 2023 to find his wife Ruby, 31, unresponsive in bed.
A dad-of-two has recalled his “total shock” after discovering his wife had died suddenly in her sleep. In October 2023, Dale Lockwood came home from work to find 31-year-old wife Ruby unresponsive.
At first he thought Ruby, who was a police detective, could be pulling a practical joke but it soon became apparent that the worst had happened. “Healthy” and “active” Ruby had experienced sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS), which is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest.
She had gone to bed after working a night shift when Dale found her. Dale, now 34, said: “It was shock I think.
“Shock just totally takes over. My initial thought was, ‘Is this a set up, a joke?’
“We had quite a dark sense of humour – but not that dark. I was looking for a hidden camera.
“I was thinking. ‘It’s a really awful joke, this can’t be happening’.”
Dale called for an ambulance but medics were unable to determine what had happened. A post mortem suggested it was caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where the muscle tissues of the heart become thickened.
However, in August 2024, it was confirmed as SADS. Prior to her death Dale said there had been no indication of any heart issues.
Ruby, from Birstall in West Yorkshire, had just had their second child, Winifred, but was still active at work. And before giving birth she was a keen gym-goer and runner.
Dale said: “She had just had our second child but she was keeping active. She was always at the gym and loved running.
“Part of my first thoughts were, ‘How on earth can this be happening?” Following her passing, he became determined to learn more about SADS.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), SADS usually happens when a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm goes untreated and leads to a cardiac arrest. “It is really tragic and seems sudden but there’s a reason it’s happening,” Dale said.
“It’s often genetics.” Due to the risk to their children, Dale sought further help and both Arthur, five, and Winifred, three, have been referred to a cardiology department for lifelong monitoring.
He also hopes to raise awareness of the condition, encouraging other families to seek support. Dale, who works as a deputy head teacher, said: “Part of the reason I want to spread awareness is for other families.
“If this had happened to them, unless they went through the process I went through they would not know their children are also at risk.” As part of this, he has taken part in several sponsored events to raise money and awareness.
This includes the Great North Run in 2024 and the London Marathon earlier this year. He is also due to complete an ultramarathon this October.
Dale continued: “The main point is raising awareness – to bang that drum and make sure people have that opportunity to access that information. People need to understand the fact that, without sounding morbid, this happens to normal families and normal people.
“This is not just happening in the over 60s, we shouldn’t just worry about our parents and grandparents. Children and young people are dying.”
“People are losing children. That shouldn’t happen in this day and age.”
As part of her legacy, Dale shares details of his fundraising efforts on an Instagram page called “Be More Ruby”. He added: “I ask people to think how can you be more like her.
“Everyone would be a better person if they could be more like her.” To donate to Dale’s ultramarathon in aid of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, visit his Just Giving page here.
His story comes as part of a new BHF campaign that highlights how one person in the UK dies every three minutes from cardiovascular disease. Recent figures have also known that the UK’s heart health has declined more quickly at the start of the 2020s than in any other decade for over 50 years, with deaths from cardiovascular disease in working-age adults rising by 18 per cent from 2019 to 2023.