Cardiff Half Marathon death: Family's hope for more defibrillators

"He was really fit, really healthy, there was no indication that was going to happen."

Ben McDonald, 25, died after going into cardiac arrest at the finish line of the Cardiff Half Marathon in October 2018.

A defibrillator was used and although it did not save him, his family want more of them in public places.

A coroner's report concluded he died from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADs).

"He was very special," said Ben's mother Ruth McDonald, from the Vale of Glamorgan.

"He was just gorgeous, funny, happy, always smiling, he just wanted every moment to be special.

"One of his favourite mottos is 'happiness is only real when shared' and he just loved being with people."

Ben McDonald loved snowboarding and spent two seasons in the Alps

Ben's brother Andrew said he loved being active.

"He was just extremely sporty, extremely active, he loved being outdoors, he loved playing, everything you can hurt yourself doing," Andrew said.

The youngest of four children, Ben had worked at the Cardiff White Water Centre since the age of 16 and was also a qualified teacher.

Ruth McDonald said her son was "always smiling"

The 25-year-old was part of a group of seven who took part in the annually-held half marathon race, along with his girlfriend, his brother Steve and his wife, Andrew and his wife and his sister's husband. They had been "planning it for months" and were "getting quite competitive".

"It all started so happy, it was a beautiful sunny day, he ran the race, he exceeded the time he set for himself, he beat one of his brothers and then he collapsed as he crossed the finish line," Ruth said.

"He died more or less straight away."

Ruth said medics used CPR and a defibrillator, but he could not be saved.

"He was really fit, really healthy, there was no indication that was going to happen," she said.

"I think what we've learnt is life is unpredictable, we don't know what lies around the corner.

Ben McDonald (third in from the left) ran the Cardiff Half Marathon with family members

"Screening might have saved Ben, it might not have done. A defibrillator could have saved Ben, but it didn't.

"But we really endorse the fact that we need defibrillators everywhere, so that people can get instant or as instant help as possible and screening might show things up.

"So it's important young people getting involved in sports activities have their hearts checked over."

She added: "We didn't think this would happen to us... Ben was going to be fine and we'd see him get married and have children and get old and that didn't happen.

"Enjoy every moment with your children because you never know which moment is the last moment and family life is precious, tell those you love, you love them."

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A second man, Dean Fletcher, 32, from Exeter, also died at the event after crossing the finishing line within minutes of Ben on 7 October.

In the wake of Ben's death, his charity page, in aid of Maternity Africa in north Tanzania, received hundreds of donations, raising almost £21,000 for the charity.

The family have since all had heart screening and want to help raise awareness of the importance of defibrillators in public places.

Andrew said: "It's so stereotypical to be like 'he was a great guy, he was lovely, everyone loved him', but he was. He was above and beyond that."

He added: "It was just so out of the blue, it could happen to anybody, our motto was live for that moment.

The family all have a tattoo, similar to one Ben also had, showing the things he loved

"You can't live your life scared, but there are things you can do, wear a helmet if you're out snowboarding, if you can get your heart checked out, get it checked out.

"If it saves one person's life [heart screening] that's good, because it's not just the person who dies that suffers, everybody suffers and that's the hardest part."

Vicki Edwards, Ben's sister said they are trying to do "things that he loved".

Among the plans is a festival style event, BenJam, which will be held on Thursday evening as a "way to remember his birthday".

Money raised from ticket sales will go to the Welsh Hearts charity.

Vicki said over 200 people have bought tickets and they hope to make it an annual event.

The Welsh Government said it has provided funding totalling £586,000 for a project called Save a Life Cymru, which aims to improve access to CPR training and increase the awareness and use of defibrillators.