A man had to be "brought back to life" and spent a week in intensive care after feeling unwell while open water swimming.
Slav Wojicik was rushed to hospital when he started shaking and was unable to walk in May 2021. After arriving at Royal Stoke Hospital, the 42-year-old was told his kidney and bladder and stomach were failing and he was taken to critical care.
Slav's memories of the next few days are a blur, but his heart stopped and he was brought back to life after being diagnosed with sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
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Slav has been left with arrhythmia - irregular heartbeat - but was determined to get back to his active lifestyle. In September 2021 he started jogging again and has just run his first marathon since his sepsis ordeal and even braved an open water swim again.
Slav, who is a personal trainer, said: "It was terrifying, and it all happened so suddenly. They had to resuscitate me, and it's taken me a long time to get back to where I was.
"I used to think of myself as a bit of a superman but I'm just glad to now get back to running again. Thankfully, I'm still here to tell the tale."
Slav had been out for a swim earlier that day, before beginning to feel "worse and worse". Doctors quickly identified Slav had an infection and rushed him to critical care.
Fortunately, after a few days Slav started to improve, and doctors managed to clear him of the infection, though he had lost more than two stone in weight.
He spent two weeks in hospital before he was able to come home but after fainting, he was readmitted and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation- a form of arrhythmia - which doctors said had been caused by sepsis.
Slav added: "It took me a month to walk properly again, and I had to be really careful walking in sunlight because of my medication for my heart."
But Slav was determined to get back to his active lifestyle. Now less than a year on from his ordeal, he has completed a marathon. He said: "I don't think I'll ever be back to exactly how I was but I'm just so lucky I survived."
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