FIVE MINUTES AFTER THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN ON SMITHDOWN ROAD ONE OF THE PEOPLE COLLAPSED
It's been two years since Grant Williams' heart stopped after taking a selfie in the street. The 54-year-old fitness instructor, from Woolton, was 11-miles into his 12-mile run when he suffered a cardiac arrest on Smithdown Road, while training for the Manchester marathon on March 9, 2024.
His heart stopped for eight minutes after he suffered a cardiac arrest. At the time, he questioned why he was lucky enough to survive. Now, he says he doesn't know whats more scary, the fact its been two years or him collapsing in the street.
Grant's life was saved by the "incredible" people he had been training with, who didn’t hesitate to start CPR before an off-duty nurse and doctor, who happened to be walking past, took over.
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Grant told the ECHO in 2024 that he couldn’t remember falling, hearing voices or seeing anyone when he suffered the cardiac arrest. He said it was the "luckiest run to die on." Adding: "We had just stopped to take a picture, we were about 11 miles in coming down Smithtown and then I just can't remember a thing.
"I had a cardiac arrest - your heart just stops and you don't feel or see anything - I [cardiac] arrested twice on the bottom of Smithtown Road and I can't remember falling, hearing voices, seeing anyone, I can't remember the CPR, or being shocked by the defibrillators. I was lucky that the group I was with started performing CPR straight away."
Luckily for him, doctor Melanie Hamilton had been cycling home from her night shift at Alder Hey Children's Hospital when she noticed a group of people standing around Grant, who was "fighting for his life", and sprung into action.
Melanie took over the CPR and brought Grant back around. But then he fell into a second cardiac arrest, thankfully a second off-duty doctor, who had been getting his haircut in a nearby barbers, rushed to help. The doctors used a defibrillator from a nearby Tesco to save his life.
Following the health scare, he said: "At times you question yourself and ask why has it happened to you. It’s not like I had a bad diet, I didn't train. But I have used this as a big challenge, with my members I’m used to telling them to do things while training or to have rest, but being on other side of the fence I've had a taste of my own medicine.
"Mentally I was fine at first, it was physically that was the hard part. But the last couple of months the physical side has been good and the mental side has been a struggle. I'm just so lucky I have good people around me."
The incident hasn't stopped Grant, who will be taking part in the Liverpool half marathon on Sunday, March 15. He said: "I had six months off but since then I've been busier than ever."
The fitness trainer founded NG-UP Active, a fitness community in Liverpool, and has set up a run club and runs weekly fitness sessions. Together, the club runs races up and down the country to raise money for Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Charity.
He said: "Dying hasn't put me off. Everyone was so amazing, my surgeons were incredible and I want to do my bit to give back."
You can donate to NGUP's fundraiser for The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Charity on their JustGiving page.
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2026-03-09T18:13:31Z