‘My best friend was happy and looking forward to new year. But I knew something was wrong when he didn’t answer his phone’
When Luca Quinn didn’t answer his phone on New Year’s Eve, his best friend wasn’t worried.
But after 40 missed calls from his worried girlfriend, Luca’s family and friends felt they had no choice but to break down the apartment door; But they found the 30-year-old unresponsive in bed.
Despite all efforts to resuscitate him, it was too late. He had died without warning from a sudden and unexplained heart condition called sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).
said Jed Pomeroy, 33, Mr. Quinn’s lifelong best friend. Independent: “His heart stopped working and there was no reason behind it.
“At first I found it incredibly difficult that Luca’s cause of death was not disclosed. I had to learn to accept that some people are just really unlucky. Luca was the funniest person you could ever hope to meet; he had a heart of gold.”
The condition, which affects around 500 people in the UK each year, causes a person to die suddenly and unexpectedly from cardiac arrest without any obvious cause.
Mr Quinn’s girlfriend, Beatrice Vacnuic, was abroad visiting family and left Mr Quinn at their flat in Chiswick, west London.
The couple spoke regularly but on the evening of December 29 Mr Quinn did not answer his phone. He tried again later that evening and received no response the next day.
Increasingly worried, she asked Mr Pomeroy, who was abroad for the new year, if he had been in contact with Mr Quinn – but he, too, heard nothing.
“It wasn’t really unusual for Luca not to text,” he added. “If she didn’t want to talk to people she would turn off her phone and that would be fine with her. So I didn’t think too much of it. But I didn’t realize Beatrice called her so many times, 40 times.”
After talking to other friends and family members, it was decided that someone needed to check on him. However, when he did not open the door, they entered and saw that he was dead.
Mr. Pomeroy, who had been Mr. Quinn’s friend since he was 11, immediately flew home when he heard the news. But it took months for Mr. Quinn’s friends and family to find answers to what caused his death.
“It was a very slow and drawn-out process because there was a backlog of deaths that needed autopsies at that time. His funeral wasn’t until April,” Mr. Pomeroy recalled.
“It was really hard at the time because we were just waiting for the autopsy results and then when we found out it was SADS it wasn’t disappointing but it was almost frustrating because there was no real reason for it.
“I had heard of heart attacks and strokes, but I had never heard of SADS. It was hard to process, but over time I came to terms with it.”
His funeral was held at Ealing Priory in April 2023 and was “completely packed”, Mr Pomeroy said, adding: “It shows what a good person he was and what an impact he had on so many people’s lives.
“Luca was such a funny person, he would always light up a room and since he was 6ft tall everyone thought of him as a gentle giant. He was always the most friendly, easy going and easy going person and could always make everyone laugh.”
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said that although the cause of SADS is not fully understood, it often occurs when a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm goes untreated and leads to cardiac arrest.
These abnormal heart rhythms, called arrhythmias, are not always dangerous. They can cause the heart to beat too fast, too slow, or irregularly, and may be caused by a heart condition that affects the heart’s electrical system.
Mr. Quinn, who had an active job as a pipefitter, had no previous symptoms. In some cases, the heart condition that causes arrhythmia can be inherited, but tests in his family found nothing.
Mr Pomeroy, who also has a heart condition called dextrocardia, which means his heart is on the right side, explained that more research is needed to understand SADS. In September he ran the Porto half marathon, raising £2,000 and raising awareness for the BHF.
This Christmas BHF, ‘A Gift That Lives On’ Campaign that encourages people to donate and help fund life-saving research into cardiovascular diseases, including conditions such as sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the charity, said: “Jed is one of the many people in the UK whose Christmas wish is for treatments and treatments we don’t yet have.
“Groundbreaking research funded by the BHF has helped improve and save the lives of many people with cardiovascular disease, but our work is not done yet. The more we discover through public donations, the more lives can be saved and the more Christmases people can enjoy with their loved ones.”
