At 47, Sunil considered himself a successful man. He had a good job, a happy wife and son, and a busy, active life. In August 2014, Sunil’s life changed when he suffered a major heart attack. Following the heart attack, Sunil was told his heart had failed and that there was no cure. He was told that he should say goodbye to his family as he was unlikely to make it to Christmas.
Nearly one million people in the UK suffer with heart failure. Like many of those people, Sunil and his wife Claire felt written off by the diagnosis, but they were determined to fight to keep Sunil alive. Instead of giving up, they began a fight for survival, a battle for any information they could find that might have given Sunil more time to spend with his loved ones.
Surrounding themselves with people who also looked to challenge the prevailing understanding of the condition, we watch as Sunil grew in strength, questioned everything he was told, not only surviving a further five Christmases but together with his family influenced and inspired people, including the UK government and healthcare professionals along the way.
Sunil had set out to show the world that more could be done to improve heart failure care across the UK. Achieving physical and emotional feats far beyond his doctor's expectations, he reminds us that our heart is more than a pump; it holds our hopes, our dreams, our families and their futures.
Sadly, Sunil lost his battle with heart failure on 21st August 2020.