How a routine health check saved my life

I was fit and healthy but my heart wasn’t

I was a fit, healthy guy. But investigations showed I had a blockage where the two arteries split. This was restricting the oxygen flow to my heart. It was common – and it could be deadly.

‘We call it the widowmaker,’ the consultant said. What often happened, he explained, is people were unaware they had it. But a bit of extra exertion or stress to the heart could lead to a heart attack. I was lucky they caught it when they did.

That was in early April. Within a week, I was having heart surgery. My wife is convinced those tests saved my life – she’s probably right.

Breathlessness while walking up a hill

In March this year, my wife and I were out hiking in Cheltenham, near where we live. We got to a bit of a hill and I started to get breathless. It wasn’t exactly painful, just uncomfortable, like I was struggling to get air into my lungs.

My wife looked at me, concerned. ‘Peter, this isn’t like you,’ she said.

For me, it was more confusing than alarming. As a committed gym-goer and keen runner, I’d been taking my fitness seriously for years. During Covid, I was in peak condition – at 50 – and had finished a half-marathon in 140 minutes.

Here I was at 54, getting breathless walking up a small hill in the Cotswolds. We both knew something wasn’t right.

To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised. It wasn’t the first time. I trained several times a week with a personal trainer, cycled, and ran regularly. But recently, I’d been getting breathless while out running.

Since February, it had happened maybe three times. But this was the first time it’d happened when I was just walking. I knew it was getting worse.

I left A&E with the all-clear

Though I had recently left what had been a very stressful job, I was covered with Bupa thanks to my wife’s work.

The next morning, I used Bupa’s online GP service, expecting an email or call within a few days. I got a call from a Bupa doctor within five minutes.

‘Go to the hospital now,’ he said. ‘You’ve put breathlessness on your form; you need to go to your nearest A&E.’

So I did. It was one of the big teaching hospitals in London. I got through quickly and was given an electrocardiogram or ECG. It’s a quick test that checks the heart’s rhythm and electrical signals. In my case, it was the first step in figuring out why I was suddenly running out of steam when I exerted myself.

My ECG was fine, the A&E doctor said. I was given the all- clear and sent home. But the breathlessness didn’t stop. So I had more tests.

I sometimes felt like I had indigestion, so cameras were put into my stomach to check its functioning – but nothing was found.

My entire respiratory system was also examined, to see how my lungs were functioning. Again, all clear.

By this time, it had become like a weird game of Cluedo, trying to figure out what could be wrong. We began wondering if it was stress.

While I felt fine mentally, there had indeed been a period of change since leaving my role. So I thought: maybe I’m not handling it as well as I think I am.

The health check that saved my life

I’d been having annual health checks with my employer for almost two decades, from a non-Bupa service. They’d check everything, like cholesterol, blood sugar, kidney function, and blood pressure.

14 years before, at one of these checks, I was told, ‘If you keep going the way you’re going, things will get worse. You need to exercise.’

I was 40 at the time, and completely sedentary. That was a major trigger for the healthy lifestyle I was living in my 50s.

But this year I wasn’t in that job anymore. So I had my health check through my wife’s Bupa policy, which covered the family. I didn’t expect that’s where they’d finally figure out what was wrong.

My Bupa health assessment was in April 2025, at a clinic in London. The team completed all the checks, including another ECG.

It was the doctor I saw then who suspected something wasn’t quite right with my heart. That was the start of my recovery.

Having life-saving surgery

At the specialist appointment a week later, the consultant seemed concerned about my family history.

My grandfather had died young after suffering many heart attacks. He drank a lot, smoked, and lived very differently from me. So I thought there would be no connection.

But my diagnosis showed that, despite my healthy habits, family history plays a big part in your health.

He also explained that the blockage in my artery had made the blood vessel shrink to a fraction of its normal size. The restriction limited blood flow, which made it hard for oxygen to reach my heart. This also made it difficult for me to breathe during physical activity. As a result,

I was at a huge risk of a fatal heart attack.

A few days later, I was in surgery. Surgeons fitted me with a life-saving stent (a small mesh tube inserted into an artery to help keep it open and restore blood flow).

Fitting the stent was like inserting a tiny metal tunnel into the artery. This pushed the cholesterol causing the blockage against the artery wall, making it expand back to its normal size.

It was all done through a small tube inserted into my wrist, so I’ve got no scars.

Being restored to health

Before the diagnosis, I thought I was okay, but I wasn’t. As well as being occasionally breathless, I was also sleeping a lot more. And, I had gained four kilos.

After I had the surgery, the effect was instantaneous. I am now sleeping about 6 to 7 hours a night and waking up refreshed. I have lost those kilos in weeks. And a fortnight ago, I did a 30km cycle ride. I only realised what I was missing when I got it back.

The doctor recommended I take statins, which are medications that reduce your cholesterol. I have changed my diet too – there’s much less cheese and a greater variety of vegetables, grains, and whole foods.

What’s more, my three brothers are also booked for the same health checks. What happened to me was no doubt influenced by what happened to our grandpa, so it’s been a warning for them too.

But most of all, I feel a tangible excitement about the future. I reckon I’ve got at least 30 fit, healthy years left in me yet.

My advice to any busy, middle-aged professional reading this? If you have any symptoms, listen to your body and have yourself checked. It could save your life.