Just hours before 17-year-old Evelyn Walker suddenly collapsed, experiencing what doctors later confirmed was a cardiac arrest, she had sought medical help for persistent chest pains—only to be told it was nothing more than anxiety.
But was it really just anxiety? Now, questions are being raised about whether vital warning signs were missed and if Evelyn’s near-fatal episode could have been prevented.
Her shocking experience at school has sparked a wave of concern over how young people’s health complaints are often overlooked—sometimes with dire consequences.
Evelyn, a teenager from Hertfordshire, was preparing for a normal school day when her world changed in an instant.
“I started the day like any other,” she recalls. “Had my breakfast, walked to school with a friend, and everything seemed fine until the chest pains hit.”
What followed was a terrifying ordeal. Evelyn soon felt nauseous, and before she knew it, everything went dark—she collapsed.
“I don’t remember anything from that moment. The next thing I know, I woke up in hospital days later,” she says.
In the critical minutes after her collapse, quick-thinking school staff jumped into action. One teacher performed CPR while another grabbed the school’s defibrillator. Together with the school nurse, they administered two electric shocks in an urgent attempt to restart her heart.
Evelyn believes her heart stopped for nearly five minutes before she was revived. She was rushed to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where doctors placed her in an induced coma for three days.
Her mother, Jennifer, describes the moment she learned about Evelyn’s condition as the most harrowing of her life.
“I was asleep, enjoying a rare lie-in, when my phone kept buzzing. I saw ‘ambulance’ on the screen and my heart dropped,” she recounts. “At first, I thought she might have fallen or hurt herself, but when the police showed up, I feared the worst. It was absolutely devastating.”
Evelyn’s case was especially shocking because she’d always been a healthy, active teenager with no major warning signs.
Though she had experienced occasional chest pains before, her visits to the doctor resulted in a diagnosis of anxiety, with no further testing.
Now, Evelyn suspects there may have been an undiagnosed heart condition lurking beneath the surface. Doctors are continuing tests, but the precise cause of her cardiac arrest remains unclear.
“I’m frustrated because I was brushed off as anxious just because I’m young,” Evelyn says. “I’m sure if someone over 60 had chest pains, they would have done more thorough tests.”
Following a month-long hospital stay, doctors implanted an internal defibrillator to help prevent another cardiac arrest.
As she recovers, Evelyn is determined to share her story to encourage others to trust their bodies and advocate for themselves.
“My outlook on life has changed completely,” she admits. “I thought I was invincible because I’m young and healthy. But heart problems can happen to anyone.”
Her mother has launched a Facebook page called Young Hearts UK to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in youth. Their mission is to encourage more people to learn CPR and how to use Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).
“While SCA is rare in young people, it does happen. In the UK, about 12 people under 35 die each week from it,” Jennifer explains. “That’s why knowing CPR and AED locations is so important—it can save lives.”
Evelyn’s journey is a poignant reminder that heart conditions don’t discriminate by age and that symptoms should never be dismissed. Her survival was made possible by the swift response of those around her and the medical care she received.
Now, she’s using her voice to empower others: listen to your body, insist on answers, and don’t hesitate to act when something feels wrong. Because in moments like these, every second counts.