Charity walk in memory of Barnsley sudden heart attack victim

Natalie Pell died of a cardiac arrest in May 2022

The family of a woman who died suddenly aged 34 have organised a fundraising walk in her memory.

Natalie Pell, 34, from Barnsley, suffered a cardiac arrest while on holiday with her husband in May 2022.

She was taken to hospital but suffered a second arrest a few days later and died. Medics attributed her death to Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome.

To mark the second anniversary of her death, relatives are raising funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Mrs Pell's younger sister, Becky Higgins said more than £1,600 had been raised already ahead of the event on 25 May.

She said her sister was an "amazing person" who was "friendly and popular", adding: "There's a lot of people who miss her."

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but the cause of the cardiac arrest cannot be found.

According to the BHF it affects around 500 people in the UK each year.

Mrs Pell died six months after her wedding

Ms Higgins said her sister had initially been taken to hospital in Grantham before being transferred to Sheffield for surgery.

She said she had shown signs of improvement at first but suffered a second cardiac arrest the day before she was due to be discharged.

"Natalie had called me from the hospital, she seemed fine," Ms Higgins said.

"She said, 'I'm going to have to go because the sweet cart is here', which is what she called the medication trolley.

"I said, 'I love you' and that was the last conversation I had with her. There was no warning. I think that's the hardest thing about it."

Caroline Carmichael, BHF Fundraising Manager said: "Tragically, sudden and unexpected deaths like this can happen which is why the BHF's research into heart disease is so important to try and understand why.

"I would like to thank Becky and everyone taking part in this walk to raise money for BHF - they can be reassured that the funds will help prevent what happened to Natalie happening to people in the future and help us beat heart break forever."