Man returns to half marathon after cardiac arrest

A student who had a cardiac arrest while taking part in a half marathon has returned two years later to run the same race.

George Collyer, 23, will run the Cambridge Half Marathon on Sunday for the Royal Papworth Hospital Charity after he collapsed during the race in 2024.

Three NHS staff who were also participating in the race stopped running to perform CPR on Collyer, with one later caring for home at the Royal Papworth Hospital.

He said: "I'm feeling fine now, but I know crossing the finish line will probably bring a mix of emotions."

Collyer, who is from south London and is an architecture student at Loughborough University, said he was "looking forward" to returning to the city to complete the race.

"I'm incredibly grateful to all the NHS professionals who helped care for me two years ago. Without their swift actions, I probably wouldn't be here today," he said.

About 15,000 runners are expected to take part in the half marathon this year.

Collyer was initially taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where he underwent a number of tests.

He was then transferred to Royal Papworth Hospital where he had a new type of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) put in place.

Dr Greg Mellor, consultant cardiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, was one of the three NHS staff to stop and help Collyer during the race and also cared for him at the hospital.

He said "instinct just kicked in" after seeing Collyer collapse, adding: "It was a very unusual situation to be involved at both ends of George's care.

"It was unique and a real privilege to be able to do that for him."

"Since having the defibrillator implanted I've been able to continue running regularly and have finished other half marathons, so I'm confident going into this one," Collyer said.

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