A couple who have survived a heart attack, cardiac arrest, and a hole in the heart between them are set to take on a charity run.

Steve and Sue Seddon, from Newbury, will be running the 10-mile AJ Bell Great South Run on Sunday, October 20, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Their journey began in 2009 when Steve suffered a heart attack at the age of 46.

The father-of-three, now 61, quit smoking, changed his diet, and began exercising regularly.

He said: "It was like I became a different person after the heart attack. I never had another urge to smoke a cigarette."

Mr Seddon's newfound love for fitness led him to start running with Mrs Seddon, a habit they continue to this day.

However, in June 2020, Steve suffered a cardiac arrest while walking his dog.

He was saved by a passerby who performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.

Mrs Seddon said: "We were told that they didn’t know how much damage had been done by the oxygen deprivation. It was very much a waiting game.

"Steve was in the intensive care unit for six days before he woke up.

"I remember walking in and seeing him sitting up in bed.

"His first words were ‘what happened to me?’"

Steve was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) to prevent future incidents.

In November 2021, Mrs Seddon experienced her own heart scare when she started to experience pain in her chest and arm.

Hospital tests revealed that she had been born with a hole in the heart.

The 57-year-old underwent keyhole surgery to close the hole in March 2022.

Mrs Seddon said: "I was completely unaware I had this quite large hole in the heart, but looking back it makes sense to me.

"When I went running with Steve I would always struggle to keep up and my breathing sounded terrible.

"After I had the operation, I immediately knocked two minutes off my normal time."

As a result of their experiences, the couple, who have been married for 34 years, signed up for the AJ Bell Great South Run to support the BHF.

Mrs Seddon said: "Without the BHF I don’t believe that we would be here today.

"Their research helped develop the operations and technology we have both benefitted from."

They will be taking part alongside their two daughters, Catherine and Christine, while their son, William, will be cheering them on.