Warning after popular gym machine leaves young woman fighting for her life in hospital: 'I felt a rip in my chest'

A self-confessed 'fitness addict' was near terrifyingly adjacent to decease aft rupturing her body's main artery portion connected the rowing instrumentality astatine the gym.

Super-fit Marie-Anne August, 45, was heaving her arms backwards during a precocious strength workout this clip past year, erstwhile she felt a 'ripping successful my chest, followed by a bubbling feeling'.

The Devon autochthonal was rushed to her section hospital, wherever medics performed a bid of investigations including humor tests and an ECG to show the electrical enactment of her heart.

But to her surprise, the results came backmost mean and she was sent location with a cleanable measure of health, she said. 

However wrong 2 days, her household became 'increasingly concerned' astir her health, commenting that she 'didn't look right'. 

'I couldn't respire and the symptom was perfectly excruciating,' said Ms August, who works successful NHS communications.

Panicked, she returned to the infirmary wherever she was yet diagnosed with aortic dissection.

This is simply a life-threatening information wherever a teardrop successful the aorta (the body's main artery) disrupts humor travel to the body's organs, and causes interior bleeding.

The information tin trigger a scope of deadly problems including stroke, bosom attack, kidney illness and adjacent paralysis, if the humor proviso to the spinal chord is compromised.

The hazard of dying increases by 1-3 per cent each hr the dissection goes untreated, according to the NHS. 

Aortic dissection is astir communal successful radical aged implicit 65, with 35 cases per 100,000 radical per twelvemonth successful that property group.

However, studies amusement that endurance athletes, peculiarly competitory rowers, are astatine higher hazard of suffering a deadly tear. 

Weight-lifting and sprinting are different high-risk exercises, according to the US National Institute of Health.

In 2018, doctors astatine St George's infirmary successful London reported a similar case of a 27 year-old antheral who suffered an aortic dissection aft an aggravated play of rowing.

Ms August was rushed successful for unfastened bosom country astatine Derriford Hospital successful Plymouth.

'I was perfectly terrified,' she said. 

'I didn’t realise however superior it was until I got to the hospital, past was told I had little than 24 hours to unrecorded and that they had to run immediately.

'They besides listed each the complications that could hap - stroke, nonaccomplishment of limbs, paralysis and tons of different things. I was conscionable truthful frightened.'

Thankfully, the cognition was a occurrence and wrong 5 days she'd returned home.

'I deliberation I recovered quicker than some. I was successful truthful overmuch symptom post-operation for the archetypal period that I couldn’t bash overmuch [beyond] going for dilatory walks with my dad.'

It’s present been astir a twelvemonth since her adjacent telephone with death.

With the assistance of household and friends, she's recovered capable to instrumentality to work.

But portion she’s retired of contiguous danger, the fittingness addict can’t bash definite sports.

She tin nary longer tally fast, skis oregon bash high-intensity exercise, including her beloved CrossFit.

'I person residual harm to my aorta truthful I request to ticker what I bash and show my humor pressure,' she said.

'I americium trying to find my feet but wide I’m doing overmuch amended than expected.

'But it’s specified a alteration – from being idiosyncratic who is rather acceptable and progressive – to each the things I can't do. And that makes maine precise sad.

'Not being capable to bash what I did earlier is the biggest accommodation for maine and with nary existent guidance arsenic to what to bash safely it causes a batch of fear.

'But I’m beauteous determined to fig retired what I tin bash safely. My gym's been truly large helping maine with cardiac rehab.

'And I'm determined to get backmost to afloat wellness if imaginable with my limitations.'

Ms August is calling for greater consciousness of the signs of aortic rupture among infirmary medics. 

'I bash consciousness disappointed it wasn't picked up initially present that I cognize however superior it was,' she said.

'It's not the doctors' fault, but much consciousness and acquisition wrong A&E is indispensable due to the fact that galore radical aren't arsenic fortunate arsenic me.'

'I judge that being acceptable and steadfast is the crushed I survived 2 days erstwhile I was initially turned away.'

Signs of aortic dissection see a abrupt thorax and/or backmost pain, shortness of breath, stroke-like symptoms including trouble speaking and numbness, and nonaccomplishment of consciousness.

A spokesperson from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Anyone who has concerns implicit the attraction they are receiving is encouraged to sermon this with the ward teams and ward matrons during their clip astatine the hospital.

'Patients tin besides talk with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service for immoderate unresolved concerns.

'Due to diligent confidentiality, we are incapable to sermon idiosyncratic matters.'