Tragedy as woman finds husband lifeless on sofa days before their honeymoon

A woman from Edinburgh has revealed how she tragically lost her husband to undiagnosed coronary heart disease just six months after their wedding.

With World Heart Day approaching on Monday, Catherine Murray spoke of the devastating loss of her husband, Iain, at the age of 32, and her mission to raise awareness aboutheart disease.

The 34 year old recently completed the 21-mile Edinburgh Kiltwalk to fundraise for the British Heart Foundation (BHF). Catherine and Iain Murray had been partners for 14 years since their teenage years, but wed just six months before his death in May 2023.

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Their honeymoon to Portugal was scheduled for the week following his passing. She described discovering her husband lifeless on the sofa after returning home from her job as a medical receptionist.

She said: "I started screaming, but I knew he was gone. I called an ambulance and I did CPR for about six minutes, although it felt like much longer, then paramedics arrived and worked on him for about 45 minutes, but there was nothing."

Mrs Murray relocated to live with her late husband's parents, Sharon and Fraser, as they supported one another through their bereavement.

She added: "We're not a family that hides the fact that we are grieving, we wear it, and we own it. We cry, we talk, we are open and honest. If someone is having a bad day, we all rally round that person."

She completed the 21-mile Kiltwalk in Edinburgh to generate funds for BHF research, as well as for her own wellbeing. Mrs Murray confessed: "I was drinking too much, eating too much, and then I realised I also don't want to die young.

"So, I'm trying my best to look after myself. The bad days are less often now. It is still devastating and when I do think about it too much it physically hurts, but those days are getting less.

"I looked at the BHF and read about the work the charity does – we couldn't save Iain, but we can maybe spread awareness about heart health and help other people to have better lives."

According to research by the BHF, every three minutes someone in the UK succumbs to cardiovascular disease.

David McColgan, head of BHF Scotland, revealed: "The sad reality is that each week, around 350 families in Scotland will lose a loved one to cardiovascular conditions like a heart attack and stroke.

"We have seen record high numbers affected by heart diseases and cardiovascular risk factors in Scotland since the start of the decade, and cardiovascular deaths in 2023 were at their highest since 2008.

"We are determined to give people more time with their loved ones by powering an era of immense scientific opportunity to give people healthier hearts, for longer."