This weekend Coronation Street broke its usual formatting to raise awareness of heart disease and cardiac arrest in the UK.
The episode that took place on Sunday 27 October, use this opportunity to raise awareness with the fan favourite character ‘Gail Platt’ suffering from a heart attack before then going into cardiac arrest later at the hospital.
As the show closed out the expected iconic theme tune was dramatically changed on Sunday’s episode, being replaced by the sound of a flattening heartbeat and an important message from the British Heart Foundation interrupted the end credits.
The message was powerful and really was a great chance to offer awareness for heart disease and cardiac arrest in the UK.
This was reflected by Salford resident Louis Lynch, who went into cardiac arrest at Irlam and Cadishead Leisure Centre.
Luckily for Louis he was saved by passer by Benny Norris with a defibrillator, but he spoke on the value of awareness such as this, he said: “I think it’s very important to raise awareness for how responding quickly is vital to whether the person survives or not.
“I’ve not seen the episode but before I had a cardiac arrest I was unaware of the very low survival rate. Only eight per cent of people survive.
“I was extremely fortunate as I had a cardiac arrest outside a leisure centre with a defibrillator and that one of the first persons on the scene was a retired nurse.”
Last month, Louis thanked his helper Benny Norris, and the Salford Community Leisure were happy to provide new defibrillators for all leisure centres across Salford with support form Salix Homes.
Thanks to swift medical attention like Louis, Gail survived in the episode. But the reality isn’t the same for many of the 33,000 women who are admitted to hospital in the UK due to a heart attack each year.
According to Salford Heart Care, early deaths in Salford from heart disease or a stroke are 40% higher than nationally.
And it proved that statistics like this highlight just how relevant this new story line from Coronation Street is, and just how close to home the issue is.
Dr Sonya Babu- Narayan, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and consultant cardiologist, said: “A heart attack can happen on any street, even Coronation Street.
“We’re honoured to be a part of British television history by working with ITV and Coronation Street to deliver the incredibly important message that heart attacks happen to women too and that supporting the BHF to fund science could save lives.
“We hope the unexpected sound of a heart monitor flatlining at the end of Sunday’s episode captured people’s attention and served as a reminder that Gail’s exit from the show could have ended very differently.”
“I think I’m having a heart attack.”
For advice and support visit: https://t.co/W35MEI9xnr#Corrie pic.twitter.com/nS89IwSYt6
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) October 23, 2024
The show proved to be impactful, with the heartbeat taking over the iconic end credits, as Simon Daglish, Deputy Commercial Managing Director for ITV said: “Just as Gail’s heart momentarily stopped, we want to arrest the famous Coronation Street theme tune to showcase the incredible work of the British Heart Foundation.”
The British Heart Foundation is the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research in the UK, who work hard to fund research towards new tests and treatments that could help keep families much alike the ‘Platts’ together for longer.
Heart attack survival rates have dramatically improved over the last 60 years, but according to the World Health Organisation, “The world’s biggest killer is ischaemic heart disease, responsible for 13% of the world’s total deaths.”
To find out more about heart attacks or donate to fund vital research into heart and circulatory diseases visit the British Heart Foundation’s website, and to learn more about Salford Heart Care click here.
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