Rugby star Alun blamed coffee for his palpitations. In fact he had a faulty heart but dismissed the other tell-tale symptoms..
. and cases like his are on the rise in young people By Adrian Monti Published: 01:54 BST, 22 October 2024 | Updated: 02:00 BST, 22 October 2024 e-mail View comments Having played professional rugby for almost 20 years, former British Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones was used to pushing his body hard, so when three years ago he started to become occasionally breathless and felt as if his heart was racing, he just shrugged it off. 'You can get a fast heart rate after having caffeine, so I thought it might be due to a strong cup of coffee,' says Alun, 39, who lives near Swansea with his wife Anwen, a university lecturer, and their three daughters.
And Alun rationalised that, as 'about 90 per cent of my time was spent running around', being out of puff after a match was to be expected, even for him, the world's most capped international rugby union player with 158 appearances for Wales. However, medical checks he underwent before signing for a new team in southern France last year revealed his optimism was misguided. To Alun's horror, the checks found he had a serious heart complaint – atrial fibrillation or AF, meaning his heart beats erratically, putting him at a significantly increased risk of a stroke.
After medical checks, Alun Wyn Jones found he had a serious heart complaint - atrial fibrillation or AF, meaning his heart beats erratically, putting him.