(Image: Jojo Clark)
A mother of two from Guildford, UK, has shared the devastating moment she lost her “fit and healthy” husband at just 46 years old, after he unexpectedly suffered a fatal heart attack at home. Jojo Clark revealed that in January 2023, her family had been recovering from a stomach bug, so she thought little of it when her husband Matthew complained of stomach pain and indigestion.
But in a sudden and tragic turn, Matthew collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Jojo performed CPR for 11 minutes before paramedics arrived, but despite their efforts, Matthew suffered a second cardiac arrest at the hospital and could not be revived.
An autopsy later revealed that Matthew had been living with undiagnosed coronary artery disease. According to Jojo, speaking to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), this condition caused a heart attack that led to the failure of the lower left chamber of his heart, reports Surrey Live.
“I always thought I knew the symptoms of a heart attack,” Jojo said. “You replay it in your mind hundreds of times, of what went wrong and when. However, the paramedics said Matthew’s chances of survival were almost zero as he had a full blockage in his coronary artery. The only way he would have survived is if I’d had a defibrillator in my hand the moment he collapsed.”
The BHF shared Jojo’s story as part of a campaign to highlight the UK’s worsening heart health crisis. According to recent data, deaths from cardiovascular disease among working-age adults (20–64) have surged by 18% since 2019. In 2023 alone, 21,975 people in this age group died an average of 420 every week.
NHS waitlists for cardiovascular care have also grown dramatically. As of February 2025, over 421,000 people were waiting for treatment an 81% increase compared to early 2020. In response, the BHF is calling for increased investment in cutting-edge research, including AI and genomics, to improve prevention and treatment.
Their goal: prevent 125,000 heart attacks and strokes by 2035 and reduce premature cardiovascular deaths by 25%. “It’s been the worst start to a decade for heart health for half a century,” said BHF CEO Dr. Charmaine Griffiths. “But we’re entering an era of immense scientific opportunity… we can reverse this worrying trend and save more lives than ever before.”
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