A ‘FIT and healthy’ woman’s heart palpitations were ‘dismissed by doctors as stress three times’ before her shock death.
Rhian Griffiths had been to hospital three times since September 2020 after suffering from breathlessness and a racing heart.
The 32-year-old quantity surveyor underwent several tests but was discharged having been told her palpitations may be ‘stress-related’.
In March last year, Rhian, who lived in Sale, Manchester, messaged the family group chat to say her heart was ‘playing up again’ – reassuring them ‘not to panic’.
However, hours later Rhian was found unresponsive by doctors and tragically died after going into cardiac arrest.
Rhian’s sister Ffion Griffiths-Armstrong said the hospital staff and Rhian’s whole family were in ‘complete shock’ over the events.
The family were later told that Rhian had the undiagnosed heart condition myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle, usually following a virus, which can cause chest pains, palpitations and shortness of breath.
The family believe Rhian having previously caught Covid might have initially caused the inflammation and Ffion says the second time Rhian went to the hospital with symptoms was following the Covid jab.
Ffion, who works in hospitality, said the health condition could’ve been treated if it hadn’t been repeatedly ‘missed’ by doctors.
Now, the 31-year-old is determined to raise awareness of what happened to her much-loved sister to prevent further deaths.
Ffion said: “It was a bit random when she first went into hospital with heart palpitations in September 2020 because she was so fit and healthy.
“She had all the checks but was discharged the next day and was completely fine.
“Then in March the following year, she got the Covid vaccine and returned to hospital the next day with the same thing.
“They didn’t pick up on 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.
“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.”
Rhian was kept in for monitoring overnight – and even tried to discharge herself after a few hours in hospital.
However, later that night Ffion received a phone call at 2am from her mum to say Rhian was unresponsive and to urgently come to hospital.
Within a matter of hours, Rhian went into cardiac arrest and died on March 11.
Ffion said: “I think it was a complete shock to them on the ward too. I don’t think they knew how serious it was with her heart.
“They had no idea what had happened to her.
“Later once we got the post-mortem they said Rhian died from acute myocarditis. We’ve read online that you can pick up on myocarditis [with tests].
“I don’t know whether because Rhian was fit and healthy and recovered from the heart palpitation episodes so well, they just didn’t see it as a red flag.
“We think her unknowingly catching Covid had this effect on her heart. We’re still so confused by it all and want answers.
“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 all bothers us so much that she should be here. She would’ve changed her lifestyle.
“It really angers us that her symptoms were just dismissed as stress. She just wasn’t taken seriously.”
Ffion wants to raise awareness of myocarditis and keep her late sister’s memory alive by completing several marathons for charity.
Ffion 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.”
Ffion is running 32 marathons in 32 days beginning on her 32nd birthday to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle.
This can weaken the heart and cause symptoms like chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeats.
Symptoms range from so mild that they go unnoticed to severe, involving permanent heart damage or death.
There is evidence to suggest the Covid-19 virus increases the risk of the condition.
A study led by the University of Glasgow found one in eight people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 between May 2020 and March 2021 were later diagnosed with myocarditis or heart inflammation.
Almost all patients involved in this study were unvaccinated, which means they were already at a higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19
Earlier in the pandemic, scientists thought that myocarditis may be caused by the virus attacking the heart muscle cells directly.
But as we learn more, many researchers now think this damage to the heart can be the result of the immune system overreacting to the infection.
Source: British Heart Foundation
