A grieving widow has spoken of the moment her husband died from a heart condition while they were having sex.
Lucie Brownlee found herself widowed at the age of just 36 following Mark Johnston’s death.
The couple had been trying for a baby and were having sex at a time they had identified as the optimum to conceive.
Lucie Brownlee found herself widowed at the age of just 36 following Mark Johnston's death
Lucie Brownlee, 38, from Sedgefield, County Durham, with her husband Mark Johnston on their wedding day. She says her husband's last words were: 'You've still got your socks on'
However, the intelligence analyst suffered a catastrophic arrhythmia and could not be revived.
An arrhythmia is an irregular or abnormal heartbeat. One type, sudden cardiac death, where the heart stops functioning. Men aged between 35 and 45 are most at risk.
According to Ms Brownlee, her husband's last words were: 'You’ve still got your socks on.'
Mr Johnston, who was just 37 when he died, had collapsed four years prior to his death and medics discovered that his aorta had ruptured.
However, following an operation he went on to make a full recovery and was otherwise fit and healthy.
Ms Brownlee, who has a six-year-old daughter with Mark, has now written a book about her experiences of being widowed at such a young age and talked about how she came to terms with her grief.
THE HEART RHYTHM PROBLEM THAT CAN LEAD TO SUDDEN DEATH
An arrhythmia is an irregular or abnormal heartbeat.
There are various types, such as the heart beating irregularly or more slowly than normal - or abnormally fast.
Certain types of arrhythmia can cause sudden cardiac death due to loss of heart function.
This can be caused by a thickening or abnormal structure of the heart muscle.
Irregularities of the electrical impulses that upset the natural rhythm of the heart may also be to blame.
Sudden cardiac death kills 100,000 people a year in the UK and 325,000 in the U.S. - most frequently in adults in their mid-30s to mid-40s.
Doctors say most of these deaths could be avoided if the condition was diagnosed earlier.
Men are twice as likely to succumb to the condition than women.
The 38-year-old, who lives near Sedgefield in County Durham, said: 'We were trying for a baby. We had lost a baby in November.
'Anyone who has tried for a baby knows there is small window every month during which it is the best possible time to conceive.
'We were at my mother’s house for my grandmother’s funeral. It wasn’t ideal as we were actually in my mother’s bed but we didn’t want to miss out on that window.
'We hadn’t been having sex for very long, we had only just started, when he collapsed.
'His last words to me were, "you’ve still got your socks on".
'I thought he’d collapsed because of a problem with his heart, but it didn’t cross my mind that he wouldn’t wake up.
'I called 999 and did CPR on him for half an hour before the ambulance arrived.'
Paramedics spent 40 minutes trying to revive him but he couldn’t be saved.
'I was just in shock. I couldn’t come to terms with it.'
Ms Brownlee, a professional writer and creative writing teacher, said she then began to grieve for her husband, who died on February 11 2012, in a way which caused some people close to her concern.
She admits she ‘drank like a fish’ and embarked upon a ‘completely inappropriate’ affair with a plumber in the wake of his death.
Ms Brownlee added: 'I drank an awful lot, and I started a fling with a plumber who had come round to do some work on my house.
'It was completely inappropriate, and my friends and family were worried that I wasn’t coping with my grief in the right way.
Ms Brownlee started writing a blog in April last year and has now published a book called Me After You
'But what I have learnt is that there is no appropriate way in which to deal with grief.
'People think there is a right way to grieve, that it should be in private.
'My grief has been chaotic and unruly. There are no rules to it.
'I can be quite matter of fact about what happened, but when I sit down and really think about it, it hits me.'
Ms Brownlee started writing a blog in April last year and has now published a book called Me After You which can be bought on amazon.co.uk for £11.99.
She said: 'I couldn’t write after Mark died. It took me over a year before I felt able to again.
'And once I did, it was lovely, because it was as though I was spending time with Mark every single day.
'He was such a positive person, so friendly and so loving. He was a one off in every possible way, including the way he died.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2695825/Youve-got-socks-Husbands-words-died-heart-condition-having-sex-wife.html#ixzz37q9b0D9i
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