An Australian mum was fitter than ever and regularly completed 100km marathons before a rare heart condition left her unable to run again.
Rachel Allworth, from Sydney, started running in 2012 and quickly became addicted, winning events and losing 20 kilograms in the process.
She also left her job as a teacher to become a career coach. Rachel’s runners – after friends and acquaintances approached eager to also pursue their passion.
But one day in March 2020, the mother of two I would go for a run like I always did, completely unaware that it would be the last time.
During that race, Rachel suffered a life-threatening arrhythmia caused by a rare heart disease. She now lives on blood thinners and a defibrillator implant to keep her heartbeat and circulation regular.
An Australian mum was fitter than ever and regularly completed 100km marathons before a rare heart condition left her unable to run again.
The morning everything changed I was on the brink of lockdown in Sydney. Raquel He was working out in the park with a trainer and some friends when he had a strange twist.
‘We were doing these little sprints to finish and I started to feel out of breath. “I couldn’t breathe very well and I was a little dizzy,” she said.
“Because everyone there was super fit and the coach wrote it off as a bit of an anxious day because of the state of the world.”
Rachel rested for a moment and started to feel better, but when she got up to leave, things got worse.
“I suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of pressure in my chest and it was very difficult to breathe,” he said. “It was like something was pushing down. It was a really strange feeling, not pain but pressure.’
Rachel’s training partner, who was also a nurse, tried to calm her down and suspected she was having a panic attack before offering to take her home.
“When I walked through the door, I felt like it was coming back again, the same feeling, but a hundred times worse,” he said.
Rachel was in better shape than ever in March 2020 when suddenly, at the end of a workout, she started feeling dizzy and had difficulty breathing properly.
“I was vomiting, I had diarrhea, it was pretty extreme, but the whole time I thought, ‘Oh God, I’m really sick, I have a really bad virus.’ “This is terrible, I haven’t done it.” “I’ve never felt so sick before,” she said.
“I never thought it was a heart problem. He had no signs in the run-up, as far as I know.
Her husband, Michael, was alarmed as soon as he saw Rachel because her face was “gray.” He called an ambulance immediately and paramedics were there within 10 minutes.
‘They hooked me up to an IV and read my heart rate. On his monitor, he said 266 beats per minute and he was stuck there. They call it conscious VT, ventricular tachycardia,” she said.
Paramedics administered medication to “reset” Rachel’s heart and had a defibrillator on standby in case they needed to shock her to get her back into rhythm.
At no point did she feel like her life was in danger, even when she was rushed to the emergency room.
“The whole time I was thinking I was really sick. She didn’t register. “I think it was scarier for everyone around me than it was for me,” she said.
Her husband Michael (right) was alarmed the moment he saw Rachel as her face was “grey” so he called an ambulance immediately and paramedics arrived within 10 minutes.
“The doctor told me, ‘You are our number one priority at this hospital. You are very lucky that your husband called the ambulance when he did. Hearts can’t last.” For more than 10 minutes at that rate you were very close to cardiac arrest.”
Fortunately, the defibrillator was not necessary and Rachel was taken for an electrophysiology (EP) study to get to the root of the problem.
As he emerged from his “anesthesia haze,” he was told he had arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a disease of the heart muscle that causes a life-threatening arrhythmia.
Rachel was told she would need a chest implantable cardioverter-defibrillator to maintain a normal heart rhythm and that I could only do minimal exercise. Running was out of the question.
Not being able to run was a hard blow for Rachel, who started practicing the sport 12 years ago and excelled at it. She and her sister participated in a four-week weight-loss fitness challenge, part of which involved running 1km non-stop.
Neither of them could make it at first, but their “stubborn sibling rivalry” got them over the mile in the end and Rachel was inspired to take part in a local fun run.
Rachel had arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and would need a chest implantable cardioverter defibrillator to maintain a normal heartbeat.
After taking up the sport 12 years ago, Rachel went from strength to strength, participating in more running events and even losing a whopping 20kg just by taking up the sport.
“I was on my way home when a friend called me and said, ‘Where are you? They’re doing the presentations and you won! “In your age group you came first!” she said.
“That was like a switch flipped and I thought, ‘What else can I do?’ You know I’d never been a runner before. I hated running in high school.
Rachel went from strength to strength over the years, participating in more running events and even losing a whopping 20kg just by taking up the sport.
She began completing marathons and helping her friends get started and enjoy running, which led her to leave her teaching job to become a full-time running coach.
In late 2022, he ran a 100km marathon along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, which turned out to be his last before suffering an arrhythmia.
“I felt so good the whole way, it sounds crazy, but I had trained for it. I remember looking at the beautiful views and thinking, ‘This is spectacular, I’m so lucky to be able to do this,'” Rachel said.
Mum Rachel keeps fit with reformer Pilates and walking and still continues training running through Rachel’s Runners.
“Very often when you run in events it hurts or it takes a long time and you don’t take it in, you just try to get to the finish line, but on that particular day I realized everything.” and I had an incredible career.’
Rachel’s extreme hobby, running, was thought to have triggered her ARVC and she is now restricted to light exercise.
She loves reformer Pilates and going for walks and still continues to coach runs online through Rachel’s Runners.
The mother wants everyone to get their hearts checked as heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia.
“There are so many different types of heart conditions that you’ve never heard of, and be very wary of any symptoms that may not seem particularly normal,” he said.
“You have to be in tune with your body and ask your doctor. If you’re not sure, get the ECG.”
Heart Research Australia She is currently running her REDFEB campaign dedicated to raising awareness about heart health and raising much-needed funds for research.