Nothing can undo the pain of losing a loved one. But former Team GB gymnast Ellie Downie says becoming a British Heart Foundation ambassador has been helping her cope with the loss of her brother Josh, 24.

“We really don’t want anything like that to happen to another family,” she adds of Josh’s sudden death from a cardiac arrest while playing cricket in May 2021. “Obviously it’s going to, but the more that we can try and prevent it, it makes us feel a little bit better in some way if we can try and help others.”

Cardiac arrest is when somebody’s heart suddenly stops beating, causing them to collapse unconscious. Immediate treatment with CPR and ideally a defibrillator if there’s one nearby, until paramedics arrive, can improve the chances of survival. It is different from a heart attack, which occurs when the blood supply to the heart is cut off – but the heart’s still pumping and people usually remain conscious and breathing. Both conditions are a medical emergency however, and a heart attack may lead to cardiac arrest without prompt treatment.

Before what happened to Josh, Downie admits: “I didn’t even know the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest. When they told me what it was, I was like, what is that? Obviously, I know a lot more now.”

Along with her sister, fellow gymnast Becky, the former Olympian and European Championships medallist attended the British Heart Foundation (BHF) annual Heart Hero Awards last December, which celebrate the fundraisers, lifesavers and health professionals helping make a big difference. Hearing other people’s stories made a big impression.

“Just seeing how many people are really trying to push the importance of heart conditions and raising awareness – because I don’t think people understand how quickly you need to act if someone has a heart attack or cardiac arrest – it’s so, so important for all of us,” says Downie.

It was later discovered that Josh had a genetic condition called arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), which causes the heart walls to weaken due to muscle cells not developing properly. With treatment, many people with ACM can live normal lives – but in Josh’s case, it hadn’t been detected.

Downie says his heart was “not in a good way”, adding: “One half of his heart was just completely scar tissue and fat and just stopped working. Josh must have had it from a very young age for it to get to the level it did.”

Because it’s hereditary (there’s a 50/50 chance of the faulty gene that causes ACM being passed on – although not everyone who carries the gene will develop the condition), Downie and her family have all since undergone tests to see if they’re affected. “They got us in really quick, which was amazing,” says Downie, adding that she and her siblings will be monitored “pretty much yearly” from now on.

It’s a lot to process, and Downie says the added anxiety it’s brought on is hard.

“All our tests came back fine – touch wood – but I’m like, how can we all be fine when Josh’s was so severe it killed him? It’s a lot to take in. I suffered from health anxiety prior to Josh passing away anyway, so it sent me through the roof with my anxiety. I see a psychologist now and we work through all that stuff. I check my heart rate just too many times a day sometimes, and I’m quite anxious about exercising sometimes and stuff like that.

“I don’t think it’ll ever really make sense to me. I’ll never really get over the fact that I’ll never ever see [Josh] again,” she adds.

This year’s BHF Heart Hero Awards are open for nominations again (closing April 30), and Downie knows how vital it is to keep the work going.

Like many other heart conditions, ACM can sometimes cause symptoms – including palpitations, breathlessness, fainting, chest pain and swollen legs and ankles. But these can be subtle and are often caused by other far less serious things too, which is why knowing your family history and getting things thoroughly checked is really important.

Plus, heart problems can affect anyone – even those who seem very fit and healthy on the outside.

“Josh was a super active young man. He played football and cricket, he went to the gym. He never really complained about anything, really – maybe the occasional heartburn, but who doesn’t get heartburn, you know?”

Downie has also been busy launching a new career chapter as a personal trainer and coach since retiring from gymnastics in January, after the last few years took a toll on her mental health.

Back in 2020, she’d been among a number of athletes to speak out amid allegations of an “environment of fear” and abuse in the sport. In June 2022, The Whyte Review, jointly commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England, catalogued a series of safeguarding failures and accused British Gymnastics of presiding over an era in which money and medals mattered more than athlete safety, and failing to listen to athletes’ complaints.

After this, British Gymnastics chief executive Sarah Powell issued a “genuine apology” on behalf of the sport, with the governing body publishing its Reform ‘25 action plan pledging to do better.

A few months down the line, Downie says retiring was “definitely” the right decision.

“I was burned out and super unhappy. Everyone was telling me not to retire, and I was like, I’m not going to listen to you guys anymore, because I think it’s quite selfish that people were telling me not to retire when they could see how unhappy I was, and I was just struggling.”

Once she took the leap, she felt “almost instantly relaxed – like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders”, Downie adds.

She’d already almost completed her personal training qualifications, and now works with clients coaching gymnastics and fitness, as well as leading HIIT classes.

“I’m really enjoying it all. It’s a different kind of fulfilment – I’ve always strived to improve myself and hit goals myself, whereas now I’m doing it through other people, and it’s really fulfilling.

“It’s just a different lifestyle,” she adds. “I think my values really changed after losing Josh. What I push through my social media and my clients is that mental health is the most important thing.”

She’s keen to share with her clients that taking a break and slowing down when you need to is not a weakness, but “a really powerful thing” to do.

“Acknowledge that you’re struggling, take the week off, don’t punish yourself. And then start again.”

Entries for the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Heart Hero Awards are open until April 30. Visit bhf.org.uk/hhanominate