A man who fell to the ground in pain while fishing was told he was just 20 minutes away from death, after mistaking chest pain for trapped wind.
Lee Overall was just 28 when he was rushed to the Royal Papworth Hospital with a heart attack.
The dad-of-two had been out fishing with his dad on May, 7 2022 when he began to experience a pain in his chest.
Lee told Cambridgeshire Live : “I started to get a bit of pain in my chest, I thought it was trapped wind".
After around a minute of the pain, Lee said it got worse and he “went to the floor and couldn’t stand”.
Still out fishing at the time, his dad rushed him back to his nan’s house where the pain continued to worsen.
On the day, Lee’s sister, Emma Overall, 30 from Chatteris had been visiting their nan with her six-day-old son to introduce him to the family before the unthinkable happened to her brother.
Emma said: “He was in a lot of pain and was screaming, my nan literally said, ‘have you fallen in the river?’.
Emma, who described her brother as her best friend said: “I went to the room where he was and I literally just burst out in tears because I've never seen anyone in that much pain in my life”.
Lee had begun sweating profusely and even tried to take a shower when he got back to his nan’s house, despite not being able to stand for very long to try and cool himself down.
Lee adds: “It felt like someone was pushing on my chest, really hard.
"I couldn’t breathe, I felt uncomfortable and then the ambulance came”.
He was rushed straight into theatre and was told he was having “a serious heart attack”.
Lee said: “I was on the table for four hours and they struggled to find where the blockages were. I came back to the room I was staying in and they told me I was 20 minutes from death”.
After five days in hospital, Lee was able to return home to continue with his recovery.
After her brother’s ordeal, Emma who lives in Chatteris is now organising a charity event to help raise money for the Royal Papworth Hospital and for the British Heart Foundation.
The day will involve five-a-side football matches, a raffle and games taking place.
Emma said: “I think a lot of these things need more awareness.
"A friend of mine was in his twenties and he had a heart attack and passed away. You don’t ever think it will happen to you”.
