All she felt was sharp chest pains - then, at just 19, Stevie's heart suddenly stopped beating

Shattered: Stevie Jivani, 19, had dreams of becoming a teacher


One day last April, Dr Naz Jivani picked up the photograph on his desk of his two daughters, Stevie and Lauren, and took it down the corridor at his GP practice to his wife, a practice nurse.

‘I handed Maureen the picture and I clearly remember saying to her, “How lucky we are to have two such beautiful, healthy daughters”,’ says Dr Jivani, 47, who lives in Bookham, Surrey.

‘Stevie, then 19, was in her second year at Birmingham University, studying to fulfil her dreams of becoming a teacher.

'She and her boyfriend Todd, whom she met when they were both 13, were looking forward to a bright future together.

'Lauren was just about to turn 18 and we were busy organising the celebrations for her party.

‘At that moment, I felt like the most fortunate man in the world.’

Just over a week later, as Naz and Maureen began a weekend break in Portugal, Naz’s mobile phone rang and the number flashed up for  Kingston Hospital.

‘That’s not unusual, as I work closely with the hospital,’ explains Naz.

‘But when I answered, someone I didn’t know was asking me if I was Stevie Jivani’s father. I said yes, and when they then asked if someone was with me I felt physically sick. I knew it must be very bad news.

‘Then I heard the words “Stevie” and “resuscitation”. I managed to ask if she was on a ventilator.

'They said no, that they were still trying to bring her back. I suddenly had the most terrible realisation that our precious daughter was, at that instant, dying.

‘I dropped the phone and heard myself screaming. Maureen was next to me and I could see the fear on her face.’

Stevie was out with her friends when she complained of chest pains (pictured with her younger sister Lauren)


Stevie, a straight-A student and talented dancer and performer, had been out with her friends in Kingston the night before when she’d complained of chest pains.

In A&E she’d had X-rays, an ECG to check her heartbeat and blood tests.

The hospital found nothing but suspected a blood clot and so kept her overnight for observation.

Stevie rang her younger sister to say she’d be back in the morning.

But the following day, at around 11am, Stevie was chatting to a nurse when she suddenly collapsed. Her heart had simply stopped beating.

As the resuscitation team fought to save her, Naz and Maureen rushed to the airport to fly home.

‘Twenty minutes into the drive, the phone went again,’ says Naz.

‘It was an emergency department consultant, who asked me to pull over.

'She then told me she was so very sorry but that, despite all their efforts, Stevie was gone.

‘I looked at Maureen and we put our arms around each other and sobbed.

'And then we had to pull ourselves together to ring her sister Lauren, who was waiting at home with my father for news.

‘That was the most horrific phone call I could ever make.’

At 6.30 that evening, the devastated and shocked family, including Todd, gathered at the hospital morgue to say goodbye.

‘Stevie looked so peaceful, as if she was asleep,’ says Maureen, 53.

‘I kept kissing her, thanking her for all the happiness she had brought us. We all had tears pouring down our faces.

‘Just a few hours earlier, Stevie and I had been chatting on the telephone.

'Now she was dead and we had no idea why.’

The results of the post mortem revealed an aortic dissection, a catastrophic rupture of the aorta (the main blood vessel from the heart).

‘I was utterly shocked when I heard the results,’ says Naz.

‘I had come across aortic dissection in older people but I had never heard of it in a 19-year-old. I couldn’t understand it.’

Left to right: Stevie with her father Naz, mother Maureen and sister Lauren. 'The four of us were really close,' said Naz


Every year there are around 600 sudden cardiac deaths in young people. Most, as in Stevie’s case, occur without warning.

Usually, the cause is arrhythmia, where electrical faults in the heart disrupt or stop its beat, explains Sanjay Sharma, professor of Inherited Cardiac Diseases and Sports Cardiology at St George’s NHS Trust.

In some cases, the death is caused by aortic dissection, the vast majority of which occur in people aged over 60.

The wall of the aorta weakens, either through an internal blockage (such as a build-up of fatty deposits) or a genetic weakness in the cartilage.

As it is so close to the pumping heart, blood in the aorta is under high pressure. This causes the weakened wall to balloon. It can occur gradually over many years or within a few hours.

Around 500 deaths a year are caused by aortic dissection.

In young people, it is most often due to abnormality in the cartilage.

This is typical of a condition called Marfan Syndrome, says Professor Sharma, a spokesman for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

Here, a faulty gene affects the connective tissue (particularly in the aorta), part of the eyes and the ligaments holding joints in place.

Often this makes patients ‘very gangly, with over-long limbs and fingers’, explains Professor Sharma.

It can also lead to eye conditions, such as dislocation of the lens, or heart problems.

‘If you suspect in any way that you or any members of your family have Marfan-like symptoms, you should get checked out by your GP and then by referral to a specialist in genetic medicine.

'You should be given an echocardiogram — an ultrasound that forms a 3D picture of the heart and surrounding arteries — and probably a CT scan, too.’

If Marfan is diagnosed, the aorta is monitored, usually with yearly checks. Medication can reduce the chances of a rupture.

If a rupture is likely, surgeons can put a man-made graft over the weakness or a stent (a tiny tube) inside the aorta to  prevent it.

But if the aorta does tear, the mortality rate is high.

‘This is why early monitoring is essential,’ explains Professor Sharma.

‘As long as the condition is picked up and managed correctly, the life expectancy of a young person with an aortic weakness is not much less than normal.

‘If any young person presents at a hospital or a GP’s surgery with severe chest pains it should always be taken very seriously.

‘An X-ray, which is two-dimensional, or an ECG, which measures electrical activity, will not  necessarily pick up aortic  widening. An echocardiogram or a CT scan will.’

Although Stevie showed no clear symptoms of Marfan, her chest pain indicated a sudden widening of the aorta prior to tearing.

Experts believe little could have been done to save her. But Naz is haunted by the belief that had he spotted something his daughter would still be alive today.

‘I am a doctor — I am meant to save people,’ he says tearfully.

‘How could I not save my own daughter? The four of us were really close, always there for each other. Now our family is shattered.’

The Jivanis are determined to help others avoid similar tragedy by raising awareness of sudden cardiac death and screening.

‘If anyone in your family has died from a sudden death under the age of 35 you are entitled to this screening on the NHS.

'The charity CRY is constantly carrying out screenings around the country for anyone between the ages of 14 and 35.’

To raise funds for the charity, the family is hosting an evening of poetry and music at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on June 6, the day after Stevie’s 21st birthday.

The results of a national adult and children’s poetry competition in Stevie’s name will be announced, with a first prize of £1,000. 

‘Perhaps we can save other beautiful young people from dying needlessly and other families from the pain we are going through,’ says Naz.

‘That would be a fitting legacy for our daughter.’

For more information on screening or sudden death syndrome, go to For more information on the SCJ Poetry Prize, email or go to