CPR training saves life of Henley-on-Thames Rugby player
22-year-old Morgan MacRae suffered a cardiac arrest while sleeping back in August 2023.
Last updated 1st Feb 2024
Morgan MacRae from Henley on Thames, was a promising young Rugby player at the time of his cardiac arrest.
In 2022 Morgan was selected to play for Wales 7's rugby as part of the HSBC world sevens series but after an injury he missed a large part of the season.
After recovering from his injury Morgan, got himself into what he described as "the best condition he'd been in for four or five years", but unfortunately in August 2023 he suffered a significant set back.
At 6am on August 13th 2023, Morgan awoke his girlfriend Kitty Williams with what she described as "very quick, deep inhaling and exhaling breaths".
When Kitty tried to wake her boyfriend, he was unresponsive.
It quickly became apparent that Morgan wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped beating.
Kitty then called 999 and performed life-saving CPR for 7 minutes until the paramedics arrived.
Morgan was defibrillated 4 times before he became responsive and was then rushed to St. George’s Hospital, London where he was induced into a coma and remained for 2 days.
Morgan had countless tests trying to find a diagnosis as to what happened to him, however currently there is no explanation as to why he suffered his cardiac arrest.
Despite not being able to find a cause Morgan was treated with an S-ICD which he will have fitted for the rest of his life, but it was the CPR at the time of his cardiac arrest that saved his life.
Kitty was the captain of Oxford Brookes Lacrosse team and learned CPR as part of a first aid course for all sports captains at the university, when speaking about the training Kitty said:
"I'm so grateful for that training, because if I hadn't had it Morgan might not be here with me today"
Since the incident Morgan and Kitty have set out to help raise awareness of cardiac arrests especially within sport and young people.
"Our long term goal is to get CPR, AED and other basic first aid training as part of the school curriculum and be taught in universities.
"It can happen to anyone at anytime, and that's why you need to be prepared."
According to the British Heart Foundation more than four in 10 adults in the UK do not know how to perform CPR.
A poll conducted on behalf of the charity also identified generational differences, with Gen Z (those aged 12 to 26) more likely to be better trained in the life-saving skill compared with older generations.
Following the incident Morgan and Kitty have set up an Instagram page mysicdandme, where they share their story and raise awareness around the importance of CPR training.
Despite the set back Morgan remains positive and is hoping to use his experience to help others while he awaits a return to the rugby pitch.
For more information about mysicdandme please click here: https://linktr.ee/mysicdandme