{"id":520769,"date":"2026-04-09T04:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T04:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/520769\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T04:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T04:04:15","slug":"i-passed-out-in-a-ditch-a-mystery-heart-condition-at-27-hasnt-stopped-this-rider-from-cycling-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/520769\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I passed out in a ditch’ \u2013 a mystery heart condition at 27 hasn’t stopped this rider from cycling around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a trip to Italy in 2019 ignited his love of cycling, Tom Williamson began dreaming about bikepacking<\/a> the world. By 2020, he was fit, trained and finally ready to begin. But before his first real adventure had even found its rhythm, he found himself at the side of the road, stopped in his tracks. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t even a crash,\u201d says Williamson. \u201cI\u2019d pulled over because my heart rate<\/a> kept climbing higher and higher. Then I just passed out and toppled over. I woke up on the tarmac, confused, with a cut face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williamson was riding with a friend from Land\u2019s End to John o\u2019 Groats (LEJOG), after Covid travel restrictions had scuppered their plans to go touring in France. Day one had gone smoothly, exactly as he\u2019d hoped, but by the following afternoon, his heart rate was behaving strangely, spiking without warning. He assumed it was down to too much sugar and coffee, on top of the longer-than-usual hours in the saddle. On day three, it happened again \u2013 his heart rate surged, and this time he collapsed.<\/p>\n

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He ended up spending two nights in Birmingham Hospital, and had to abandon the LEJOG ride. It was a period he now describes as frightening. \u201cI\u2019d never passed out before,\u201d he says. \u201cI was thinking, what\u2019s wrong with me? I am fit and healthy, but suddenly I am unable to keep my heart rate down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Outwardly, nothing appeared amiss. Williamson was 27 years old with no history of heart problems<\/a>. Even medical professionals struggled to find a cause. Tests came back clear, with no abnormalities detected. And so began two years of medical limbo, during which Williamson was left questioning whether his endurance cycling ambitions were over before they had properly begun. \u201cIt felt like the rug had been pulled from under me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\"Tom\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

On paper, Williamson was an ordinary, active young man doing all the right things to stay healthy. He cycled to his job as a marketing executive and trained regularly at his local gym \u2013 there were no warning signs. Though not a professional athlete, he grew up in a household shaped by sport: both his parents are keen runners, and he spent his childhood running and playing hockey \u2013 interests he kept up through to university. Now 32 and speaking to me from his home in Thames Ditton, Surrey, Williamson comes across as open and optimistic, someone quick to see the positive and driven by a desire to explore the world.<\/p>\n

Back in 2019, on that trip to Italy, Williamson bought a second-hand road bike on which to explore the Lake Garda region where he was staying. At the time he had little cycling experience, but the adventure \u2013 and no doubt the fine Italian food and scenery \u2013 instilled in him a sense of freedom he did not want to leave behind. His friend\u2019s proposal in 2020 that they ride LEJOG together was irresistible. \u201cI joined a local cycling club for social reasons, as a way to meet people and ride with others,\u201d Williamson remembers, \u201cbut after a while I realised that group riding is not what drew me to cycling. I wanted to plan routes and be adventurous. That sense of independence and exploration is what keeps pulling at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following his hospitalisation, Williamson underwent ECGs, echocardiograms, MRIs, 48-hour Holter monitor and exercise tolerance tests \u2013 practically every heart function test available on the NHS. The results were inconclusive. None of the doctors advised him to stop cycling, though he was told to take things easy while uncertainty remained. It was an unsettling and difficult time for Williamson. \u201cBy then, I had developed so much of my identity and happiness from endurance cycling that the uncertainty made it feel like my entire future was up in the air,\u201d he says. \u201cAlthough nobody banned me from sport outright, it felt like that possibility was on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In January 2024, he finally had a working diagnosis: supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), a type of irregular heartbeat affecting the heart’s upper chambers, causing a fast or erratic heartbeat. Doctors attempted an ablation procedure, where heat is applied to create a tiny scar in the heart to block faulty heart signals. However, on this occasion the surgeon couldn\u2019t find the location of the fault and the operation was unsuccessful. Nine months later they tried again, but alas, they once again failed to block the short-circuit, and symptoms returned.<\/p>\n

WIlliamson was advised to keep his exertion levels low, but this didn\u2019t stop him going on adventures \u2013 even if it meant hiding them from his doctors. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell them about the trips,\u201d he says. \u201cI knew they would advise caution, and I completely understood that. Most people would be wary of someone cycling solo in remote places, let alone with a heart condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the first surgery, determined not to put his life on hold, he cycled through Macedonia and Greece. \u201cMy approach was to take the general medical advice seriously and then apply my own understanding of how my symptoms behaved,\u201d Williamson explains.<\/p>\n

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After the second surgery \u2013 initially thought successful \u2013 Williamson went ahead with three, almost back-to-back trips: first India, followed by Central America and India again. \u201cDon\u2019t tell my mum,\u201d he jokes, \u201cbut on that trip [to India] I passed out in a ditch and ended up calling on locals to help me out.\u201d Some might regard Williamson\u2019s continuing to ride long distances as irresponsible, but he disagrees. \u201cYou learn that most people in this world are good,\u201d he says. \u201cMy adventures were incredibly important to me, mentally as well as physically. I had to weigh up risk versus living fully, and I do feel I made the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Tom\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Williamson)<\/p>\n

SVT affects about two in every 1,000 people, meaning it is not considered uncommon. What was uncommon, in Williamson\u2019s case, was the location of the electrical trigger \u2013 so unusual, in fact, that he became a special case study for his cardiologist Dr Dhillon Param Deep, at King\u2019s College Hospital, London. Williamson underwent two procedures where the surgeons couldn\u2019t locate the trigger point in his heart, and symptoms returned almost immediately afterwards. Relief came in June last year when surgeons tried again and, after four hours probing Williamson\u2019s heart, finally ablated the problem area. He has been symptom-free since. \u201cFor the first time in four years, I feel genuinely hopeful,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had no major symptoms and finally feel like myself again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the successful ablation, Williamson has completed a bikepacking tour of China, cycling 400 miles from Zhangjiajie National Park south to Guilin, over six days. It was the first time since 2020 he had ridden for a prolonged period without symptoms \u2013 no forced stops, no discomfort, and no need to constantly monitor his heart rate. He felt elated. \u201cI remember flying up the hills on day six in total disbelief because I felt so strong. It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Williamson, long-distance cycling is no longer just about testing his limits or chasing adventure. having benefited from life-changing medical care, he is determined to give something back. He is now planning to bikepack around the world, starting in June, to raise funds for Cardiac Risk in the Young<\/a> (CRY). The charity estimates that 12 people aged 35 or under die suddenly each week in the UK from previously undiagnosed heart conditions, with 80% showing no prior symptoms. Through screening programmes and research, CRY works to reduce those numbers. \u201cKnowing these statistics hits home how lucky I was,\u201d Williamson reflects.<\/p>\n

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\"Tom\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Williamson)<\/p>\n

Mum\u2019s view: \u2018I won\u2019t stop worrying!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI am always worried about him,\u201d laughs Bonnie Williamson, Tom\u2019s mother, when I ask how she feels about his bikepacking adventures. \u201cThe fact that he is alone on his trips, I worry that he might not get help when he gets into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recalls her panic the first time she saw Tom\u2019s heart-rate monitor reading 200bpm. \u201cAnd that was when he was just sitting still,\u201d she exclaims. As a former NHS mental health nurse, Bonnie is not unfamiliar with hospitals and the medical profession. \u201cWhen we found out he was in hospital in Birmingham, it wasn\u2019t so much the heart that worried us first,\u201d she remembers, \u201cit was the picture of our healthy and fit son with cuts and bruises all over his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the ordeal, Bonnie coached Tom on how to calm and slow his heart rate should the arrhythmia<\/a> symptoms suddenly arise. As doctors struggled to reach a diagnosis, it was Bonnie\u2019s suggestion to use a portable cardiac monitor to record his heart rhythms over a prolonged period. \u201cThe doctor noticed [an abnormality on] the read-out and they suddenly had proof of something being wrong. That was when they implanted an ECG to record his heart rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the successful surgery, Bonnie naturally still has concerns. \u201cI am pleased about the last surgery, but I still worry about other cycling dangers like accidents. It\u2019s his being alone that worries me more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 12 March 2026.\u00a0Subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and never miss an issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a trip to Italy in 2019 ignited his love of cycling, Tom Williamson began dreaming about bikepacking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-520769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}