{"id":526770,"date":"2026-04-12T11:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526770\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T11:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T11:39:10","slug":"i-noticed-some-unusual-symptoms-but-i-didnt-want-to-worry-my-wife-then-i-nearly-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526770\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I noticed some unusual symptoms but I didn\u2019t want to worry my wife. Then I nearly died\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

Paul Seymour, like many of us, didn\u2019t want his loved ones to worry about him.<\/p>\n

So when he started to notice some unusual changes in his health, he decided to keep them a secret.<\/p>\n

When he would struggle<\/a> to walk up the stairs, he would kneel and pretend to tie his shoelaces. If he started having chest pains<\/a> when they were out, he would find an excuse for them to stop. <\/p>\n

But after seven months of hiding his symptoms<\/a>, Mr Seymour, then 40, collapsed while running to catch a train in southeast London and woke up to a crowd of people surrounding him. <\/p>\n

He was taken to hospital<\/a>, where he found out that the pains he had been hiding were angina attacks caused by coronary artery disease, a condition in which fatty substances narrow the arteries.<\/p>\n

After being told he was \u201clucky not to have had a full-blown heart attack\u201d, Mr Seymour went home that night and told his wife about his diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Seymour\u2019s mother had also kept her health issues a secret (Tom Wren\/SWNS)<\/p>\n

Now an NHS clinical systems manager, the 66-year-old told The Independent: \u201cI remember she wasn\u2019t very happy. We have a great relationship, we\u2019re the best of friends. We never really have arguments, but I could see I\u2019d let her down.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it dawned on her what could have happened, and what was happening, she was extremely worried, and that\u2019s the thing I really wanted to avoid.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot opening up about my symptoms is something I regret \u2013 it was done for the wrong reasons. I thought I was protecting my wife, but in reality, I was not really protecting myself.\u201d <\/p>\n

New research<\/a> has found that 19 per cent of adults who have a health issue kept their condition a secret from a partner at some point. A fifth of those people will never tell their partner about their diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Mr Seymour\u2019s own mother had also avoided telling her family about health problems she was facing and died suddenly after going into a diabetic coma. \u201cBecause of what happened with my mother, I should have been more open, but I guess it turned me the other way at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoanneJoanne Seymour says she was \u2018angry\u2019 and \u2018scared\u2019 when her husband told her about his diagnosis (Tom Wren\/SWNS)<\/p>\n

New research commissioned by health insurance agency AXA Health found that more than a quarter of people who chose not to talk about their health issues feared that their partner might leave them, while around 20 per cent felt unsure about how to bring it up.<\/p>\n

Some 28 per cent of people said they did not want to worry their partner. <\/p>\n

His wife, Joanne, said: \u201cWhen I found out, it was a mixture of being angry because he hadn\u2019t told me and being scared. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so frightened of losing him for something that could have been prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she may have missed some clues that her husband was unwell. \u201cI remember he didn\u2019t want to go for walks, but I just put this down to him being anti-social.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne time we were walking to the train station and had only gone about 30 metres when he became sweaty and was an awful grey colour.\u201d <\/p>\n

After spending nearly a year regaining his fitness, Mr Seymour had surgery to insert stents and promised his wife he wouldn\u2019t keep quiet about his health again. <\/p>\n

He said his advice for anyone scared to address their symptoms is to speak up and seek help.<\/p>\n

\"MoreMore than a quarter of people keeping symptoms a secret said they did not want to worry their partner (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n

Heather Smith, the chief executive of AXA Health, which commissioned the research as part of its Cover That Cares campaign, said: \u201cPaul\u2019s story\u202fhighlights why it\u2019s so important to open up to family and friends about health concerns, even when it comes to difficult or embarrassing topics. <\/p>\n

\u201cUndoubtedly, it would have been a frightening experience for Paul and keeping his symptoms and worries to himself meant he\u202fwasn\u2019t\u202fable to receive the care and support\u202ffrom\u202fhis\u202floved ones.\u202f \u202f <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s\u202fcompletely understandable\u202fwhy\u202fpeople\u202fcan be\u202freluctant to discuss their health, especially when it comes to serious conditions like Paul\u2019s which could cause worry or distress to their loved ones. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut as our research shows, 88 per cent of people believe\u202fit\u2019s\u202fimportant to be honest about health issues and for those who did\u202fopen up,\u202fthe majority felt it positively\u202fimpacted\u202ftheir relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-526770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526770","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=526770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}