THE night before he died, Mark Westwood had been making plans to wed his fiancée.
The 38-year-old dad-of-four, from Stockton-on-Tees, has now left a “massive, horrible gap” in all his family’s lives.
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On November 7, Mark’s fiancée, Charlotte Garbutt, found him after he had passed away in his sleep .
His heartbroken mum, Gina Westwood, said as far as anyone is aware, there was no underlying condition that could have caused it.
She said her eldest son “loved everyone” – he even took homeless people to his home to give them a meal and a shower.
The 60-year-old grandmother told Teesside Live: “He had a massive heart, he just loved everyone. He just lit up any room up that he went into.
Read more on sudden death
“If there was a bad situation he would always make it better, he has left a big, massive, horrible gap.
“It is such a shock, we can’t believe he has gone.”
Mark was a devoted dad to his three sons – Harvey, 17, Charlie, 13, and Jayden, 7.
He met Charlotte while attending church, and the pair went on to have one-year-old Gracie-Hope.
The night before he died he told his mum he was “the happiest he had ever been” and was making plans to bring forward his wedding.
Gina described Mark as “the life and soul of the party”, and he was not just her son, but her best friend.
She added: “We were always together, he would do anything for me. He used to say, ‘when you die mam, I won’t be able to cope’ and I said ‘of course you will’.”
An inquest will be held into Mark’s sudden death.
Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome
While Mark’s cause of death is still to be determined, one of the most common causes of sudden death is sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.
Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but the cause isn’t clear.
A cardiac arrest is when a person’s heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, stopping breathing, which starves your brain of oxygen.
An abnormal heart rhythm known as an arrhythmia can lead to a cardiac arrest if left untreated.
A heart arrhythmia may not cause any symptoms, but if symptoms do occur they may include:
- A fluttering, pounding or racing feeling in the chest
- A fast heartbeat
- A slow heartbeat
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
If you feel like your heart is beating too fast or too slow, or it’s skipping a beat, make an appointment for a health checkup.
Causes of sudden death
Sudden death can occur due to a number of reasons, including cardiac and non-cardiac conditions.
Cardiac conditions include:
Arrhythmia: A lethal arrhythmia can occur due to a number of factors, including ischemic injury from a heart attack, cardiomyopathy, or inherited defects.
Coronary artery disease: This disease can be responsible for up to 80% of sudden cardiac death cases.
Heart failure: Heart failure with reduced or preserved ejection fraction can cause sudden death.
Non-cardiac conditions include:
Stroke: A massive stroke can cause sudden death.
Brain hemorrhage: A brain hemorrhage can cause sudden death.
Epilepsy: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a term used to describe the sudden death of an epileptic patient during normal activity.
Anaphylaxis: A severe allergic reaction can cause sudden death
Hypertensive crisis: A sudden and severe increase in blood pressure can cause sudden death.
Some risk factors for sudden death include:
- Family history of coronary artery disease
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- An inactive lifestyle
Source: Mayo Clinic
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