A secondary school teacher from Usk has been nominated for a British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Award after he saved the life of his fiancée.

History teacher Ben Hart, 30, was nominated as a CPR Hero by Rebecca, 33, who is now his wife after they married on April 9.

Ben used cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when in January this year Rebecca suffered a cardiac arrest in her sleep.

Rebecca, who teaches maths and science, said: “The events that unfolded on the morning of the 6^th January have dominated my thoughts this year; from the overwhelming fear of how devastating that night could have been to being so grateful to have this second chance at life!

‘’When the British Heart Foundation Heart Hero awards popped up on my Instagram stories, I knew I had to nominate Ben.

‘’What Ben did that night is the reason I am still here today, and I want him and everyone else to know how grateful I will always be.”

Rebecca recalled that on January 6, 2022, at 4.30am, her fiancé was awake when he felt her body make jerking movements as if she was having a seizure.

She said: ‘’Ben turned the lights on to find me unresponsive, making what seemed like desperate gasping breaths and turning blue. He rang 999 and got through to an operator who talked him through CPR.

‘’The operator counted with him beats of four for around 25 minutes until the ambulance arrived. Once they arrived, I was shocked with a defibrillator and placed into an induced coma. After a stay in ICU and cardiac ward, I was diagnosed with long QT syndrome and fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).”

Long QT syndrome is a rare condition that affects up to 1 in 2,000 people and can cause life-threatening irregular heartbeats. ICDs are small devices which send electrical pulses to regulate abnormal heart rhythms.

Rebecca added: “My recovery is going well. I completed an 8-week cardiac rehabilitation course in May and continue to grow in confidence with my physical health. I returned to work in September, and although in a slightly different role to aid my recovery, I’m enjoying the structure and routine of being back in the work environment again.”

On being nominated, Ben said: “I feel immensely proud, overwhelmed and thankful that my actions helped to save Rebecca’s life.”

Rebecca added: “We are both so appreciative of the amazing work the BHF does in raising awareness for heart related conditions, especially the importance of CPR when a person has a cardiac arrest.”

BHF Cymru is celebrating the inspirational people from across Wales who’ve been nominated in the British Heart Foundation’s Heart Hero Awards 2022.

The annual awards ceremony returns for a fifth year tomorrow, Thursday December when the charity will honour incredible young heart heroes who’ve shown remarkable bravery and gone above and beyond to help others while coping with the devastating impact of heart disease, as well as CPR lifesavers, innovative fundraisers, corporate partners, research champions and healthcare heroes working in the NHS.