Brave wife honours husband’s memory and supports research into cardiac arrest

The family and friends of a ‘selfless’ police officer who passed away following a cardiac arrest have taken part in the Cardiff Half Marathon to support research into the condition. 

Greg Lloyd, 51, passed away in August 2022 after he suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep and was placed in an induced coma at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. 

His wife, Louise Lloyd, ran with her children Rhys, 23, and Sophie, 21, and around 120 friends, family members and colleagues from South Wales in Greg’s honour, and to raise funds to support research at the University Hospital of Wales. Louise said:

Greg was sent to the critical care ward in the hospital and placed in an induced coma. He’d had a heart attack followed by a cardiac arrest in his sleep and suffered from brain damage due to a lack of oxygen. The hospital staff tried their best but there wasn't anything they could do.” 

Louise said that Greg had been active and lived a healthy life. A keen runner, he had previously completed the Cardiff Half Marathon three times.  

Their fundraising efforts will allow the University Hospital of Wales to carry out a new research project into treatments for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OOHCA). It is hoped these studies will provide more answers into how best to treat patients who have had an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to improve their chances of having a good outcome. 

Louise added:

This is one of the things that we as the family and friends of Greg can do to honour him. He was a selfless person and would always be willing to help others. If the research helps one family in the future, it will be worth it.” 

According to the British Heart Foundation, less than one in 10 people in the UK who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survive.  

Professor Matt Wise, Associate Medical Director for Research and Development at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, and Chief Investigator of the UK critical care sites for several landmark trials for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, said:

After the successful completion of three critical care trials into out-of-hospital cardiac arrest supported by Health and Care Research Wales, our team will use the money which has been fundraised to help conduct the fourth trial STEPCARE this year, to continue the search for new interventions that will improve patient outcomes.” 

Jade Cole, Critical Care Research and Development Lead at University Hospital of Wales said:

Any donation in honour of Greg would be put to very good use for research into the treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that could help others in the future.” 

You can support Louise and her team of runners by visiting their fundraising page. 

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