A mum-to-be has been left heartbroken after her fiancé died suddenly following a gym session due to an undiagnosed heart condition, just days after announcing he was going to be a father.
Fiancé Dies After Returning Home from the Gym
Lana Corina has spoken of how her husband-to-be, 34-year-old Marco Damaggio, "changed many people's lives" through his work as a personal trainer. When he returned home from the gym on July 6 feeling unwell, the couple initially put it down to the heatwave.
However, when bodybuilder Marco began struggling to breathe, Lana realised something more serious was wrong and called 999. She recalls how Marco soon lost consciousness, forcing her to perform CPR while waiting for the ambulance.
Paramedics attended the scene and spent a couple of hours fighting to save Marco, but despite their efforts, he could not be revived. It was later confirmed that he had been living with an undiagnosed heart condition.
Fundraiser Launched to Support Mum-to-Be
Now facing life without Marco, a friend has launched a fundraiser to help support Lana and her baby as she prepares to go on maternity leave. She has paid tribute to the "amazing person" Marco was, and is speaking out to raise awareness of undiagnosed heart conditions, urging anyone experiencing symptoms to get checked.
Lana, from London, said: "It feels like my life's stood still since July 6. It started as a normal day, the weekend before we went to a wedding party for one of his friends, it was the perfect time for him to tell everyone about the baby that we're expecting."
"He wanted to be a father so much. We woke up in the morning, had breakfast as always, he went to get a blood test done because we went through fertility treatment."
"He came back home and even though he didn't tell me initially, about an hour after coming home he said he hasn't been feeling well after the gym."
"It was during the heatwave, it was 35 degrees outside and the gym has no aircon so I thought maybe it's just exhaustion - having had blood taken out plus the heat and the workout."
"He started saying 'I can't breathe' so at that point we called 999. Within seconds he passed out and that's when the nightmare started."
Raising Awareness of Hidden Heart Conditions
Lana reveals they had no knowledge of Marco's heart condition. As Marco was a personal trainer who kept a close eye on his diet, had previously played rugby, and was a regular at the gym, they had every reason to believe he was in good health.
Lana said: "He always took his supplements, he always hit his macros, he only had one cheat day a week. I was always worried that he trained too hard but it was part of him. He did that since before I met him, that was who he was, he worked really hard."
"Too many athletes such as Marco suffer or die from undiagnosed heart conditions, it seems to be very common in bodybuilding as well as football."
"If we saw a cardiologist maybe things would've been easier, he would have started treatment that would have helped him instead of just passing out and just never coming back."
Now left to bring up their child on her own, a friend of Lana and Marco has launched a fundraiser to help support her and the baby. Lana said: "He changed a lot of people's lives, he was more than just a coach, he was a friend, a mentor, a supporter and a confidant. He didn't have a bad bone in him. For me it's been really hard to deal with life now."
"The baby is growing and I find it really hard to accept I'll be a single mum because he deserved to be here. We found true love, which not many people get to experience in their life time, but was cut short because of his undiagnosed heart condition."
"Our hearts are not being checked unless something really bad happens such as strokes or heart attacks and by then, for some it's too late. Marco was an amazing person, he changed a lot of people's lives."
You can donate to the fundraiser on the GoFundMe page.
