Photo: Ogwen MRT
Last summer, I received a phone call
which no one wants to hear. A friend and former climbing partner had
died suddenly at home from a massive heart attack. Dave was only in
his sixties and was still out in the mountains every week with his
Collie.Tramping oe'r hill and down dale right until the end. Although
it was a shock, this wasn't the first time outdoorsy friends have
suffered heart attacks. Four friends have so far bounced back from
heart attacks and what they all had in common is that they are all
either of average weight or on the skinny side of average. None of
them smoked, ate badly, drank heavily and all were/are highly active.
How can this happen? Is it genetics,
stress, overworking the body or just a freak occurrence that defies
explanation?
What I do know from my days in a
mountain rescue team is that deaths in the mountains from heart
attacks far outweighs deaths from falls. In a nutshell, if you are
going climbing on Tryfan, you've more chance of dropping dead on your
way up to the Heather Terrace than falling off Munich!
My aforementioned friend was once on
his way up Foel Goch above Nant Francon when he stopped to chat to a
walker who had stopped for a fag and a coffee on his way down . When
Dave returned he noticed that the walker was still there and as he
passed he noticed that his cigarette was still held between his
fingers but had burnt down to ash.Yes..he'd just expired from a heart
attack. A few weeks later on the same mountain,a female friend walked
up with her husband. Near the top he stopped for a rest and urged her
to carry on to the top without him. Yes...you've guessed it. By the
time she got back to him he'd passed away.
Of course,if we lived our lives by
avoiding risk, stress or exercise we wouldn't get out of bed and the
only life worth living is one in which we push ourselves to our
limits to achieve something of lasting worth. However, we can't
ignore the fact that once you get passed 50 or 60,the risk of heart
attack increases considerably. Not that young people or the younger
middle aged don't suffer heart attacks too,but stats show that the
mid 50's to mid 60's seem to be the optimum age for a heart attack.
Those old climbers and walkers who reach their 70's and 80's are more
likely to succumb from other ailments like cancer, dementia, Parkinsons, and strokes it appears.
Somebody once told me that the average
life expectancy of a member of the UK Fell and Rock Club is 88.
That's way above the UK average so does this throw another element
into the stats. A matter of class? Given that clubs like the F and R,
the Climber's Club and the Alpine club overwhelmingly have a middle
class membership, does it suggest that you can avoid a heart attack
if, as a nice educated middle class professional ,you are more
conversant with the positive effects of exercise and diet and the
detrimental effects of smoking and boozing?
Well, yes and no. Yes in that if you
are aware of those positive and negative elements it can help you
live a longer, healthier life; No in that as previously mentioned,
none of my friends who suffered heart attacks were obese,junk food
gobbling, chain smoking boozers.
In the last couple of years I've twice
undergone heart tests. Once after I had a dizzy spell and
palpitations while driving on a motorway. The doctor suspected an
irregular heartbeat and I wore a monitor for seven days which
revealed no abnormalities in my heart patterns,and recently, after
suffering chest pains-in hindsight probably indigestion- I had two
sessions on a tread mill and a cycling machine which again raised no
issues.
For years now and without medical
recommendation, I've taken one 75mg aspirin a day in the hope and
belief that aspirin reduces the risk of blood clots which cause heart
attacks and strokes. Will the strategy work? Who knows? Heart Attacks in the mountains from exertion appears to be something of a lottery for all concerned but maybe,just maybe,that tiny little pill might just be the difference between life and death?
