A young, seemingly healthy dog groomer from Derbyshire has revealed how she ‘died for seven minutes’ after the stress of running her own business triggered a hidden and potentially fatal heart condition.
A Normal Sunday That Turned Into a Nightmare
On 16 November, a cool and damp Sunday, 22-year-old Courtney Stocks from Ilkeston collapsed in her garden. Her parents were visiting, and what began as a typical family day swiftly became a fight for her life. Courtney has no memory of the event, but her father, Chris Watchorn, heard her fall and rushed to her aid.
“My dad heard me, came running down the garden and started CPR,” Courtney recounted. He continued performing chest compressions until an ambulance arrived to rush her to the Royal Derby Hospital. There, she spent four days in intensive care followed by time on a cardiac ward.
The Shocking Diagnosis: A Hidden Heart Defect
Despite being a non-smoker and non-drinker who walked nearly 10,000 steps a day to her dog grooming business, Courtney was diagnosed with a serious structural heart abnormality. Medical tests revealed she had Mitral Annular Disjunction (MAD), a condition she was born with that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
“It was quite a shock, especially because I’m only 22 and fit and healthy,” she said. Looking back, she admits to ignoring warning signs, dismissing heart palpitations and episodes of light-headedness as mere anxiety. “I just assumed it was nothing,” she added.
Stress as the Trigger and a Lifesaving Warning
While her MAD condition was congenital, doctors confirmed that stress played a key role in triggering the cardiac arrest when it did. Courtney acknowledges that the pressures of running her own dog grooming business took a significant toll. “I am quite a stressy person. All the little things just got on top of me. It’s very stressful at work... I think it took its toll,” she explained.
To prevent future incidents, doctors have fitted Courtney with an implantable defibrillator. Now, she is urging others, no matter how fit they feel, to take symptoms seriously. “If you have any signs that you think something could be wrong, just don’t brush it off, even if you’re the fittest, healthiest person,” she warned.
Her partner, Ellie Powers, has started a fundraising campaign to help cover living costs while Courtney recovers and is unable to work. Courtney credits her father’s swift action with saving her life, stating simply: “I wouldn’t be here without my dad. I would’ve died.”
