Teen basketball player survives cardiac arrest caused by rare inherited heart disease
A 17-year-old Nottingham basketball player collapsed on court from cardiac arrest linked to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was saved by CPR before undergoing surgery and receiving an implantable defibrillator.
Jack Taylor, a 17-year-old software engineering student from Nottingham, suffered a cardiac arrest while playing basketball after mistaking a buzzing sensation for a normal reaction to an energy drink. Immediate CPR by a trained spectator saved his life, and he was rushed to hospital where doctors gave him a very low chance of survival. After 35 days on life support, he underwent open-heart surgery and now lives with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator that monitors his heart rhythm.
Genetic testing identified hypertrophic cardiomyopathy caused by a MYBPC3 gene variant, which his father Rick and twin brother Max also carry. Researchers at the British Heart Foundation, including professor Hugh Watkins, are pursuing a £30 million CureHeart project to find cures for inherited heart muscle diseases. Jack met Professor Watkins at the University of Oxford, gaining hope that future therapies may prevent others from enduring his ordeal.
