'Healthy' Manchester woman suffers sudden death at 32 - after doctors dismissed heart palpitations as 'stress-related' READ MORE: Mum says potentially fatal heart condition was dismissed as UTI By Emily Stearn, Health Reporter For Mailonline Published: 06:17 EDT, 6 August 2024 | Updated: 06:29 EDT, 6 August 2024 e-mail View comments The family of a 'healthy' 32 year-old who suffered a shock death have urged young Brits to be persistent with doctors, after the tragic Manchester woman's symptoms were dismissed as 'just stress'. Rhian Griffiths, who lived in Sale in Manchester, had suffered breathlessness and a racing heart for two years and a half years. But medics — including an A&E doctor — consistently said her problems were related to stress, according to her sister, Ffion Griffiths-Armstrong, 31.
In March 2023, hours after telling her family that her heart was 'playing up', the surveyor was found unresponsive by her mother, having suffered a cardiac arrest. Rhian Griffiths, who lived in Sale in Manchester, was otherwise fit and healthy. But in September 2020 she suddenly began suffering breathlessness and a racing heart which turned out to be the sign of an underlying heart condition.
Following her death, the family were told Ms Griffiths suffered an undiagnosed heart complication called myocarditis , which can weaken the heart muscle and increase the risk of deadly complications including heart attack and stroke. Now, Ms Griffiths-Armstrong is urging people not to ignore any worrying symptoms and push for a diagnosis. Ms Griffiths first experienced the palpitations after contracting Covid in September 2020, and sought help at her local A&E department, according to her sister.
'She had all the checks but was discharged the next day and was completely fine,' said Ms Griffiths-Armstrong. 'Then in March the following year, she got the Covid vaccine and went back to hospital the next day with the same problem. 'They didn't pick up anything on the tests and thought the palpitations could be stress-related.
'Then in March 2023 she messaged us all to say her heart was playing up again and she was taking herself into hospital. Despite attending A&E, Ms Griffiths (right) was discharged a day later and told her palpitations may be 'stress-related', Ffion Griffiths-Armstrong (pictured left) claimed Over the course of two and a half years, further visits again blamed the quantity surveyor's symptoms on stress. Yet hours after she told her family in March 2023 that her heart was 'playing up again', reassuring them 'not to panic', she was then found unresponsive by her Mum having suffered a cardiac arrest 'She was messaging us all day and seemed absolutely fine.
She'd been feeling unwell all that week. 'The Saturday before we'd all been out having drinks together having a great night.' During this third visit, Ms Griffiths was kept in the hospital all night for monitoring.
But at 2am the following morning, Ms Griffiths-Armstrong received a call from her mother to urge her to come to hospital, adding that her sister was unresponsive. Rhian Griffiths died a few hours later. Ms Griffiths-Armstrong added: 'I think it was a complete shock to staff on the ward too.
I don't think they knew how serious it was. They had no idea what had happened. 'Later, the post-mortem said Rhian died from acute myocarditis.
You can pick up [signs of] the disease with tests. 'I don't know whether they didn't see it as a red flag because Rhian was fit and healthy and recovered from the heart palpitation episodes so well. 'We think her unknowingly catching Covid had this effect on her heart.
We're still so confused by it all still and want answers. Tragically, her family were later told Ms Griffiths had the undiagnosed heart complication, myocarditi s, which can weaken the heart muscle. Pictured, Ms Griffiths in hospital after suffering heart palpitations 'You just don't expect this to happen to a fit and healthy 32-year-old girl.
She did everything right so it's frustrating that this was missed. From what I've read myocarditis is preventable and can be treated. 'It really angers us that her symptoms were just dismissed as stress.
She just wasn't taken seriously.' Myocarditis usually occurs following a virus. It is caused by the body's immune system overreacting to an infection, causing inflammation, which can stay in the heart even after the virus has been cleared.
While some sufferers have no symptoms, for others, it can cause chest pains, palpitations and shortness of breath. But in rare cases, if the inflammation is severe, myocarditis can scar the heart muscle. This can affect the electrical activity of the heart as well as how well blood is pumped round the body, potentially triggering a heart attack.
Read More Why ARE so many young people suffering heart attacks? Rates have DOUBLED in a decade among some under-30s as experts insist soaring obesity rates are to blame UK medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), states that studies show the risk of myocarditis from contracting the virus itself has been estimated at about 1,500 cases per million patients. There have been rare cases of myocarditis following the Covid vaccine, with cases believed to be more common in young males under the age of 25. According to the MHRA, there were 10 reports per million doses of myocarditis following vaccination with the monovalent Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
This stood at 14 per million doses for the monovalent Moderna vaccine. The overwhelming majority of vaccine-induced myocarditis cases are mild, real world evidence shows. Many resolve on their own, and the under 40s haven't been routinely invited for jabs since 2021 during the Omicron wave.
Cardiologists have repeatedly insisted that the vaccine has not led to a spike in cardiovascular health problems. Now, Ms Griffiths-Armstrong wants to raise awareness of the condition and keep her late sister's memory alive by running 32 marathons in 32 days for the British Heart Foundation. Her GoFundMe has already raised nearly £2,000 since it was launched last month.
She said: 'Rhian was the most lovely, bubbly, energetic person. She always had a smile on her face. She had such a zest for life and had so much more life to give.
'We did everything together so my whole world crumbled when she died. It was just key life moments like my wedding that she missed. And we're all mourning her life - she was loving her job and life in Manchester.
'I still think to this day it's not fully hit me yet. It's not something your parents should go through - it's not the order of life. I just don't want people to forget her because she was an amazing person.
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