“I’ve refused to let it beat me.”

For Karel Boughton, those words sum up his approach since experiencing heart failure two years ago. Now 74, Karel continues to attend Derby County Community Trust’s cardiac rehab programme, where he has rebuilt his strength, regained his confidence and learnt more about what he is capable of doing.

His experience is being shared on World Heart Day, with this year’s ‘Don’t Miss a Beat’ campaign highlighting the importance of recognising the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and taking action to protect your heart.

Karel knows first-hand why that message matters. Two years ago, after developing bacterial pneumonia, Karel experienced heart failure. Before then, he was still doing his usual three-and-a-half-mile morning walk, but one day he found himself struggling to make it up a hill he would normally manage without thinking twice.

“I was doing my ordinary three and a half mile walk in the morning, which I still do. I couldn’t make it up the hill. I just couldn’t do it. I had to stop about three times and I was out of breath,” he said.

When Karel got home, his wife recognised that something was wrong and called 111. He was taken to A&E by ambulance, where the seriousness of his condition quickly became clear.

“I heard them say, just clear the decks. We want a full team, resus team, because my lungs were half full of blood and fluid and my heart was doing 220 beats. And that’s the problem. It had obviously been doing that for longer than I had perceived.”

The episode damaged Karel’s left ventricle, which he later discovered is now only working at 30 per cent. His recovery began with cardiac rehabilitation at the Royal Derby Hospital before he was referred to Derby County Community Trust’s programme.

He said: “The programme is brilliant. Yeah, I really enjoy it.”

A big part of that experience has been the support from staff, who are there to help participants exercise safely and recognise when they may be struggling.

“It is comforting having somebody there that knows what they’re talking about and can see if you’re struggling but trying to hide it. Jon and Lee, the staff, are very good. They’ve been brilliant, they know what to look out for.”

Over time, that support has helped Karel become more confident about pushing himself and has made a noticeable difference to his strength: “It has helped a lot because I’ve got the confidence now to push myself a bit further than I did before. And my strength has got a lot better.”

The impact has extended beyond the sessions too, with Karel now doing more exercise at home than he was capable of before joining the programme. He explained: “I do a lot more at home in terms of just normal exercise. I don’t go mad, but I certainly do more than I was capable of before I joined the programme.”

For Karel, cardiac rehab is about more than physical exercise. He believes gradually building confidence, while seeing others in the group make progress, is an important part of the experience.

“It’s a confidence building exercise as much as anything else. It shows you what you are actually capable of doing because a lot of people come in and they are really frightened of pushing themselves or even doing exercises, but then you see people coming on and gradually doing more and more at sessions.”, he said.

Derby County Community Trust’s cardiac rehab programme aims to help people get back to as full a life as possible following a cardiac event such as a heart attack, heart surgery or stent procedure. 

Alongside exercise, it supports participants to address risk factors affecting heart health, including increasing physical activity, improving diet and stopping smoking, while providing the chance to meet others with similar experiences.

Looking back on his own experience, Karel admits he wishes he had acted sooner when he first realised something was wrong. He said: “I wish I’d rung for the ambulance quicker, quite frankly.”

It is a lesson he hopes other people can take from his experience, particularly when symptoms are unfamiliar or easy to dismiss. For Karel, getting checked could make all the difference, not only for the individual but for the people around them.

“If you have any symptoms at all, just get it checked. That’s the first thing I would say. Think of your family, because they’re the one that’s going to have to live without you.”

Having gone through the uncertainty of recovering from heart failure himself, Karel also wants anyone offered cardiac rehabilitation to give it a chance. For him, the combination of exercise, support and being around people going through similar experiences has made a genuine difference.

He said: “If you have the opportunity, join the programme. We’re all bonkers, so you’ll fit in well.”

Two years after his heart failure, Karel is still walking his three-and-a-half miles, doing more exercise at home and turning up each week to keep building on the progress he has made. His story is a reminder of why recognising changes in your health matters, but also of what can be possible with the right support and a willingness to keep moving forward. And perhaps that is why, despite everything he has been through, Karel remains so determined.

Find out more about our cardiac rehab programme here.