Apparently healthy, 27-year-old English accountant Jono Stead died in December 2022 while lying down for a nap after work. The young man had a sudden illness caused by a heart defect that he didn’t know he had.
Jono was passionate about football, and was about to marry Katie Weatherhead, with whom he had been dating since 2014 — the ceremony would take place in 2023. The accountant died 10 days before his 28th birthday.
The young man said he was going to take a nap between work shifts to catch up on a few hours of sleep. About 45 minutes later, the family realized he had died.
“Jono was my life, and losing him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I still hope he walks through the door with his infectious smile,” says Katie in a Facebook text in honor of her fiancé.
Jono’s malformation
Jono had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, also called myocardial hypertrophy. Patients affected by the condition, generally genetic and hereditary, have heart muscles that are stronger than normal and, therefore, become more rigid. The thickness of the tissue also reduces the volume of the heart, making sudden deaths easier, especially in athletes.
The condition affects around 1 in every 500 people, but the majority live without symptoms of cardiomyopathy. In some cases, however, it can cause the heart to beat at abnormal rhythms and even lead to a massive heart attack. About 1% of adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy die each year.
Jono’s family decided to campaign for more young people to take heart risk tests, which could detect the condition earlier. Individuals with a history of sudden death in the family should be even more alert.
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