Heart attack inspires man to run half marathon

A man who had a heart attack on his honeymoon said it felt like he "had death hanging over my shoulder".

Peter Franklin, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, said he was fighting for his life in hospital 24 hours after arriving in the Caribbean with his new wife Kim.

The 53-year-old said: "Due to the location we were in, I was having the heart attack for four hours before I got to a hospital - I honestly don't know how I survived."

He now hopes to complete the Fleetwood half marathon later - two days before the first anniversary of his heart attack.

Peter, who supports people with learning disabilities and autism learn skills to live independently, said: "I was taken in an ambulance from one hospital to another hospital 186 miles (300km) away, so it was 36 hours before I had an operation to have stents put in."

He flew back to Manchester Airport with a full medical escort and went straight to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

But, after spending three days in hospital, Peter had another heart attack.

"Luckily that one was nowhere near as bad as the first and it was dealt with straight away," he said.

"But I was diagnosed with severe heart failure and told I would be on medication forever.

"It was terrifying."

In December, Peter had a device implanted under the skin of his chest to monitor his heart and deliver a life-saving shock if it goes into a dangerous rhythm.

He was also determined to do all he could to improve his health and started exercising.

"I started to work out, slowly at first, but then I started increasing the weights that I was using, then the intensity and the duration, and then I decided to start running," he said.

"I started off running really short distances, but before I knew it, I was running 5km, and then one day I kept going and 10km started becoming a thing."

He is now determined to complete the Fleetwood half marathon.

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