BBC Winterwatch’s Iolo Williams suffered heart attack and then walked a mile for help

BBC presenter Iolo Williams had to walk over a mile to get to safety after suffering a heart attack.

The host of Springwatch[1] and Winterwatch had gone for a long solo run last year when “like a bolt out of the blue” he got an “intense pain” under his sternum. He told the Mirror[2] that he knew it was a heart attack.

Iolo’s car was a mile and a half away and he didn’t have his phone, meaning he would have to find help on his own. He said: “I thought well, I can’t go down here.

Try the Liverpool Echo Premium app and get the first month free[3]

“So I walked on, crouched a little bit every now and again when the pain got a little bit worse. I got to my car, phoned for an ambulance and they said it would be 90-odd minutes.”

The star faced a long wait for the ambulance, so his wife took him to the hospital. He recovered but later had another health scare.

While working on a new series, Iolo suddenly struggled to put on his seatbelt and was rushed to the hospital. He was diagnosed with an embolism, which is a blocked artery caused by a foreign body such as a blood clot or air bubble.

The embolism had circulated his body for six weeks before it became lodged in a blood vessel, temporarily paralysing him. Fortunately, Iolo recovered fully and experienced no long-term effects.

Join Slimming World for FREE with this great offer[5]

Enter our £2,000 Wickes voucher giveaway and step into 2024 with style[6]

References

  1. ^ Springwatch (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
  2. ^ Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
  3. ^ Try the Liverpool Echo Premium app and get the first month free (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
  4. ^ Met Office update as more snow forecast to hit Liverpool (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
  5. ^ Join Slimming World for FREE with this great offer (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
  6. ^ Enter our £2,000 Wickes voucher giveaway and step into 2024 with style (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)