A decade has passed since James Taylor's life took a dramatic turn during what seemed like a routine pre-season cricket match.
Taylor, a former England international batter, was preparing for a Nottinghamshire game against Cambridge University when he experienced symptoms that would ultimately force his retirement at just 26 years old.
"I should have died on that journey," Taylor reveals, recalling his drive back to Nottingham after falling ill during the match. "My body is packing up over the course of the next five hours. I'm grey and cold but sweaty too. I'm crawling because I can't walk."
The cricketer described attempting to climb stairs but being unable to, vomiting uncontrollably, and experiencing excruciating shoulder pain before collapsing into bed in a fetal position.
What began as simple throw-downs before play escalated rapidly. "I'm not even joking, I could physically see my shirt moving from my heartbeat," Taylor says. "It felt like I was incredibly anxious but obviously I shouldn't be."
After leaving the field feeling nauseous and breathless, Taylor called his doctor who delivered urgent instructions: "Don't wait for an ambulance, you haven't got enough time."
At the hospital, doctors discovered Taylor's heart was beating at a staggering 265 beats per minute—completely out of rhythm. Medical professionals later explained his body had been desperately trying to preserve vital organs during the episode.
"They said that what my heart had been through was the equivalent of five to six marathons," Taylor recalls. "You're meant to only be able to be conscious for 10 minutes of that and I'd gone nearly six hours."
The diagnosis was arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a serious heart condition that ended Taylor's promising cricket career after just seven Tests and 27 one-day internationals for England.
Reflecting on the experience, Taylor acknowledges the gravity of his survival: "This was probably the only time in the whole process that I actually thought I might pass out or even die."