Staffordshire dad-of-five, 43, with ‘no symptoms’ died suddenly in front of son

22/12/2023

A Staffordshire dad collapsed at home and died – despite the brave efforts of his teenage son. Marc ‘Sid’ Siddalls was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after paramedics arrived. The 43-year-old lost his fight for life despite the efforts of his son Ethan, 16, who had started CPR.

Now, his five sons will be supporting their mum in raising funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) this Christmas. Mr Siddalls’ wife, Emma, told the Mirror that, after his death in June 2021, the family discovered Mr Siddalls suffered from ischaemic heart disease (IHD), also known as coronary heart disease. Now she is supporting the BHF which is researching genetic links of IHD and help in the the hope her sons don’t suffer a similar fate.

His sons Ethan, now 18, Josh, 22, Callum, 19, Alfie, 14 and Logan, eight, will be putting on a Christmas party at Marston’s Social Club in Burton-on-Trent on Saturday, December 23. Speaking about the day her husband died, Emma said they had just returned from a holiday in Wales and Sid had seemed “absolutely fine” when he went to bed the night before. But on the morning of June 11, she had still been in bed when she got a call from Sid, who was downstairs. “He asked me to come as he needed my help,” said Emma. “When I went down, he was sitting on the sofa rubbing his chest and complaining that it hurt, that it felt like heartburn.

Marc ‘Sid’ Siddalls from Burton (Image: BPM MEDIA)

“He was also flinging his arms out saying they were hurting too.” Emma rang 111 who spoke to Sid and then said they were going to call an ambulance.

In the meantime, her husband sat on the floor in a ball crying in pain. “All of a sudden, he stopped making noises – his eyes had gone, there was nothing there,” said Emma. “My son Ethan came running downstairs, we put Sid on the floor and he started doing heart compressions. It was 10 minutes for the ambulance to get here.

They tried for 48 minutes and he was pronounced dead at 8.53am.” Emma said there was no reason to think there was anything wrong with Sid before he died. “There were no symptoms, nothing,” she said. “When we got the coroner’s report they said it was ischaemic heart disease, and then on the same day Sid’s mum came over with his dad’s death certificate which said coronary heart disease. “Speaking to GP’s and experts since, I understand that conditions like this run in families so now we’re worried it will be handed down to the boys.

This is why I want to raise money to go towards British Heart Foundation research. “I look at my five boys and I don’t want the same fate for them but also you look at thousands of people, millions even who have the same uncertain fate and it would be absolutely amazing to be able to do something about this.” After the tragic events in June 2021, things took another difficult turn for the family when Emma and three of her sons were in a bad car accident as they tried to get away for a short break.

Emma, Alfie, Ethan and Logan all ended up in hospital. “That Christmas was a washout but then last year I wanted to do something in Sid’s honour so we put our money together and had a party at the social club,” said Emma. “It worked really well so this year we decided to make it into a fundraiser – we’re having a kids disco, a raffle and a tombola with loads of great prizes.” Emma’s fundraiser will be supported by her nephew Connor, who entered a hearse into a banger race in a Kings Lynne Halloween event. To donate to the British Heart Foundation this festive season visit their website [3].

To find out more about Emma’s event and support the Siddall family’s fundraiser, visit their Just Giving page here [4].

References

^ Girl taken to Royal Stoke after being hit by car in Burslem (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Police workers who got drivers off speeding fines jailed for Christmas (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ website (www.bhf.org.uk)
^ here (www.justgiving.com)
^ Sign up to our main daily newsletter here and get all the latest news straight to your inbox for FREE (data.reachplc.com)