The Heart Warrior Project

12/10/2026

At 28, my life could have ended. There were people I hadn’t met yet, passions I hadn’t discovered, and memories I had no idea were still ahead of me.

Looking through these photos, that really hits me.

October is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and I wanted to share a few of the moments I’m deeply grateful I’ve been here for.

Life after cardiac arrest can also be really hard. I still have days when fatigue takes over and gratitude feels far away. The happiness in these photos is real, and so are the struggles you don’t see.

Sometimes, picking up my guitar or spending time with someone I love brings a little light into those days.

Whether you’ve survived a cardiac arrest, live at risk of one, or love someone who does, what’s something you’re grateful you’ve been here to experience? I’d love to hear. ❤️

P.S. Learn CPR, folks. Without it, I wouldn’t be here. Neither would so many of us cardiac arrest survivors. ❤️

08/10/2026

Statins raise a lot of questions, concerns, and conflicting advice online. So how do we make sense of the claims we come across? 🫀🔍

In this clip, cardiologist Dr. Rohin Francis takes a closer look at a viral claim about statins, cholesterol, and “natural alternatives.”

🎙️ Want to explore more common heart health claims? Watch our full conversation, where we discuss everything from seed oils and energy drinks to claims about “unclogging” your arteries: https://youtu.be/3nBj9xaWgYE

29/09/2026

Happy World Heart Day! ❤️🌍

For World Heart Day, let’s debunk some of the most common heart health myths and claims circulating online, together with cardiologist Dr. Rohin Francis. 🫀

If you enjoy this episode, let me know! And if you’d love to see a second round with Dr. Francis exploring more heart health claims, be sure to mention it!

Are there any other heart health claims you’ve heard often that you’d like Dr. Francis to examine next time? Drop them in the comments!

Support the Heart Warrior Project: https://heartwarriorproject.com/...

27/09/2026

Surviving a sudden cardiac arrest or living with the risk of having one does not only affect the heart warrior; it affects the people around them as well.

In this Q&A meetup, ⁠Prof. Katie Dainty⁠ joins The Heart Warrior Project to discuss the often-overlooked experiences of co-survivors: partners, family members, those who performed CPR, and loved ones whose lives can also change dramatically.

Professor Dainty is a qualitative social scientist, Research Chair in Patient-Centred Outcomes at North York General Hospital, and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto.

For more than 15 years, her research has explored how cardiac arrest affects the people around the survivor.

Join our newsletter 💌

Want to join the next live Q&A meetup with a cardiac health expert? Sign up for our newsletter to hear about upcoming meetups.

https://heartwarriorproject.com/newsletter/

Become a Heart Warrior Patron ❤️

Unlock recordings of past Q&A meetups with cardiac health experts and help keep the heart of The Heart Warrior Project beating. You’ll also receive a beautiful piece of artwork and have your name added to our Heart Warrior Patron Wall.

https://ko-fi.com/heartwarriorproject/tiers

https://youtu.be/5Pm4xS-0Zgk?si=EeOK-XXS8Wp71fVa

Show notes: https://heartwarriorproject.com/co-survivors-prof-katie...

22/09/2026

Back home from Milan after joining the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Congress as a speaker and sudden cardiac arrest survivor. ❤️🇮🇹

I came home exhausted, but satisfied. And honestly, with a lot of hope.

I met so many brilliant, good-hearted people working to save more lives after sudden cardiac arrest. 🫀

But what meant just as much to me, as a survivor and aspiring clinical psychologist, was hearing more conversations about what happens afterwards.

Because surviving, as I know from my own experience and hundreds of stories in our Heart Warrior Project community, is not where the story ends. 🫂

For many of us, leaving the hospital is where a different struggle begins. Fear. Trauma. Symptoms. Relationships changing. Trying to trust your body again and find your way back into life.

And there is still a huge gap in support once people go home.

That is why it meant so much to hear survivors’ voices, see survivorship taken more seriously, and see patient-driven organizations like The Heart Warrior Project recognized as part of filling that gap.

This year, co-survivors also had a place on stage. Together with another survivor, two co-survivors, including my girlfriend, a cardiologist, and a researcher, we spoke about how SCA affects the people closest to us.

The response was incredibly heartfelt. ❤️

Medical progress can feel painfully slow. From the outside, it can seem like nothing is changing. Like the professionals don't care.

But my conversations in Milan left me feeling something very clearly: things are moving. People care. And people are fighting to make this better. 💪

Yes, we need to keep pushing survival rates higher. But we also need to make sure there is something there to catch people afterwards.

I’ve come home even more determined to keep growing The Heart Warrior Project, reaching more people and offering better support, so it can become an even stronger safety net, long after surviving. ❤️

18/09/2026

Speaking at the ERC about the impact sudden cardiac arrest has on co-survivors. ❤️

Partners, family members, and loved ones are still too often forgotten. It’s time we talk more about them.

To the physicians joining the session on September 19: on behalf of the co-survivors I’ve met through The Heart Warrior Project, thank you for caring and wanting to build better support for them too. 🙏

And soon, a new episode with Prof. Katie Dainty will be released on our podcast and YouTube channel, focusing entirely on co-survivors. 🎙️❤️

Be sure to follow us so you don’t miss it.

14/09/2026

These ideas come from 25 years of living as a heart patient and from conversations with hundreds of fellow Heart Warriors. ❤️

They are changes I believe could greatly improve our quality of life and potentially contribute to better long-term health outcomes.

This post is also a promise to my fellow Heart Warriors: I will continue advocating for these changes and do everything within my power to help turn them into reality, through The Heart Warrior Project and wherever else I can make a difference. 💪

We deserve cardiac care that supports the heart and the whole person living with it.

What would you change about cardiac care? 💬

07/09/2026

Hey everyone,

Summer has been overwhelming, with lots of work and exams.

However, a lot of new content is in the making for The Heart Warrior Project, including an episode/video about deciding whether or not to get an ICD, featuring two Heart Warriors and cardiologist Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

There will also be an episode/video with cardiologist Dr. Rohin Francis busting heart health myths, another with cardiologist Dr. Hafiz Naderi explaining common heart health terms to help all of us, myself included, better understand terminology we might hear at the cardiologist or read online, and an episode of the live Q&A meetup with Dr. Katie Dainty about co-survivors.

Lastly, I am considering doing a special Q&A episode/video…

After spending the past few years putting more than 50 fellow Heart Warriors and health experts in the spotlight, I am doing a special Q&A episode where the guest will be me. 🙂

For this Q&A, you can send me questions about anything you would be interested in asking me.

Whether this Q&A episode happens will, of course, depend entirely on whether there is enough interest from you all.

I might be excited to do it, but in the end, I care about creating content that is beneficial to you. If I receive only a handful of questions, I might still decide not to go ahead with the episode.

But again, if anyone has a question for me, go ahead and send it over!

Your question can be about surviving a sudden cardiac arrest, living with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy and an ICD, the emotional or physical aftermath, therapy, studying clinical psychology, creating The Heart Warrior Project, my month-long kayak expedition in 2027, climbing, or something completely different. It does not have to be heart-related. Every respectful question is welcome.

You can simply leave your questions in the comments, and I will answer them in the episode/video! 🙂

02/09/2026

Sometimes I look at old photos of myself and miss the person looking back at me.

Those photos were taken before my cardiac arrest. Before the ICD, the medication, the restrictions, and the further progression of my heart disease.

I see a version of myself who could climb mountains with ease. Who felt physically strong and capable. Who was mentally sharp, seemed to have endless energy, and trusted his body without having to think about it. 🏔️

Sometimes I wish I could be him again, even if only for one day.

For a long time, I thought this feeling was only frustration, sadness, and disappointment that I was no longer the person I used to be. But underneath all of that, there was grief. 💔

After talking to hundreds of fellow Heart Warriors, I began to recognize the same pattern in others. Beneath their frustration and sadness was often grief for who they had been before.

Many of us are not comparing ourselves to other people, but to who we once were, a version of ourselves we miss and perhaps still hope to become again. Yet somewhere within us, even if we are not ready to fully accept it, we know we cannot return to exactly who we were before.

While I am still on this journey of coming to terms with all of this myself, I know that I have a community around me here at The Heart Warrior Project.

Twice a month, our international Heart Warrior family comes together to talk and support one another. It includes people who have survived a cardiac arrest and those at increased risk of experiencing one.

If you are reading this, can relate, and feel alone in all of this, consider this a gentle invitation to join us. You can find our upcoming meetups here: https://heartwarriorproject.com/online-meetup-for-cardiac-arrest-survivors/

You are most definitely welcome. 🤝❤️

29/08/2026

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be talking to consultant cardiologist Dr. Rohin Francis, creator of the YouTube channel Medlife Crisis, for an episode debunking heart health myths and claims circulating on the internet and social media.

This will be a Q&A episode, which means I’m gathering questions from you and others to put to Dr. Francis.

Have you recently heard a claim about heart health that made you wonder whether it was actually true?

If you remember where you heard it, such as in an Instagram Reel, TikTok, Facebook video, YouTube video, or article, please share the link as well.

We may show the original content during the episode so Dr. Francis can respond to it directly, debunk it, or provide important context that may be missing.

You can leave your question below or submit it through the provided link. There, you can also read more about Dr. Francis

Have a look at who the next cardiac health expert will be on The Heart Warrior Project podcast and ask your questions.