{"id":9765,"date":"2025-12-15T14:38:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T15:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=9765"},"modified":"2025-12-17T21:34:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T21:34:42","slug":"i-was-so-stressed-i-dropped-down-dead-in-my-garden-for-seven-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/i-was-so-stressed-i-dropped-down-dead-in-my-garden-for-seven-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"I was so stressed I dropped down dead in my garden for seven minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Courtney was 22 when she died for seven minutes (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a cool damp Sunday in November, 22-year-old Courtney Stocks dropped dead in her garden.<\/p>\n

She didn’t smoke or drink, and walked 10,000 steps every day to her dog grooming business in Derbyshire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless her heart stopped<\/a> for an agonising seven minutes as her father Chris Watchorn rushed to perform CPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

‘It was a normal Sunday,’ Courtney, from Ilkeston, recalls. ‘My mum and dad had come around to see me. I’ve been told I was sitting on the sofa talking to my family when my dad went outside to take a phone<\/a> call.<\/p>\n

‘Apparently a couple of minutes later I went outside to follow him, which is when I collapsed in the garden. That’s when my dad heard me, came running down the garden and started CPR.’<\/p>\n

Despite no underlying health conditions, Courtney would soon learn she had mitral annular disjunction (MAD) –<\/strong> a structural abnormality of the heart that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

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Courtney’s dad Chris (left) saved her life by performing CPR (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She’d been experiencing heart palpitations and light–<\/strong>headedness in the weeks leading up to her hospitalisation but dismissed it as anxiety<\/a>, but her MAD was triggered by stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

‘I completely blacked out, I was gone. I was dead for seven minutes,’ Courtney says.<\/p>\n

‘I was healthy. I’ve never had any health issues –<\/strong> I don’t smoke, vape or even drink. I walk 20 minutes to work every morning and do nearly 10,000 steps every day.<\/p>\n

‘I’m a dog–<\/strong>groomer <\/a>so I have quite a physical, hands–<\/strong>on job.’<\/p>\n

Courtney had been so fit and healthy, in fact, that she hadn’t been to the doctors since she was eight years old.<\/p>\n

Her dad performed CPR until the ambulance came to take her to Royal Derby<\/a> Hospital, where she spent four days in intensive care, before being moved onto the cardiac ward.<\/p>\n

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Courtney’s dog grooming business was stressful to run and she believes this triggered her cardiac arrest (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After undergoing a number of tests, it was then doctors told Courtney she had mitral annular disjunction and had an implantable defibrillator fitted to prevent further cardiac arrests.<\/p>\n

‘It was quite a shock, especially because I’m only 22 and fit and healthy,’ she says. ”Looking back, I did have heart palpitations every now and again – I just put that down to anxiety, but that obviously was a sign.<\/p>\n

‘I also used to get quite light–<\/strong>headed and dizzy, especially in the shower, and had to put the cold shower on. I just assumed it was nothing.’<\/p>\n

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