Two of Northern Ireland’s leading business figures have spoken candidly about how cardiovascular disease has severely impacted their busy careers.

Manufacturing NI Chief Executive Stephen Kelly and former Tourism NI Chief Executive John McGrillen sat on British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland’s iconic red bench at Titanic Belfast to share their individual experiences.

Stephen, 54, from Derry~Londonderry, had believed he was “indestructible” before suffering a heart attack in March 2026 while on a short break in Alicante with his wife Carol to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.

 John, 64, who lives in Ballynahinch, had spent a decade leading Tourism NI and was preparing for retirement when tests showed he was at high risk of a heart attack and needed open-heart surgery.

Before his heart attack, Stephen was being treated for high cholesterol and high blood pressure and admits his lifestyle was unhealthy.

Stephen says: “I thought my general health had always been good. I played golf twice a week and went to the gym twice a week. But I had a busy life and a bad lifestyle – a poor diet, poor sleep, smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

“I knew the advice about lifestyle changes, but I thought I was young enough and immune to serious illness. Until something happened, I didn’t deal with it.”

During the anniversary break, Stephen initially thought he had trapped wind or indigestion. When the discomfort did not ease, he fainted twice and then collapsed again in the shower. His wife called an ambulance, and paramedics confirmed that he had experienced a myocardial infarction — a heart attack.

Stephen said: “The key message for me is that none of the things that happened felt like a heart attack. I thought a heart attack was someone grabbing their chest and falling to the floor. Mine was indigestion, a cold sweat, and then collapsing.”

Doctors found that the artery on the right-hand side of his heart was completely closed, with a partial closure in another artery. Stephen underwent two procedures and had five stents fitted.

He added: “I feel very lucky. This could have happened while I was alone in a hotel room as I travel a lot with work. Instead, I was with my wife, who got help immediately.”

In April 2025, after 10 years at the helm of Tourism NI, John was looking forward to his “swansong” at The Open at Royal Portrush before retiring, followed by a trip to Florence with his wife to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

Instead, on Easter Sunday, after a round of golf, John ended up in the cardiac unit at the Ulster Hospital. Tests revealed that he was at high risk of a heart attack, and seven weeks later he underwent open-heart surgery.

John said: “Prior to my cardiac incident, I had a pretty normal lifestyle. However, I have a family history of cardiovascular disease.

“My dad died of a heart attack when he was just 48. My mum had a triple heart bypass at 75 and she’s still going strong at 94.”

John described experiencing a sudden “whoosh”, sickness, tightness across his chest and brief breathlessness after running back to his car for a golf-trolley battery. Although the symptoms passed and he completed his round, his family history prompted him to seek medical help.

He said: “My wife was away but my sister Anne-Marie was in the house and so she took me to A&E in the Ulster Hospital. When I told them I had chest pain I received immediate attention.”

An angiogram showed that John needed further treatment. He said: “The consultant said we can give you four or five stents but advised it would be better given my family history and high risk of a heart attack to have a double bypass.”

After surgery and cardiac rehabilitation, John returned to Portrush for The Open just eight weeks after the operation. He said: “I feel great now but if I’m honest it makes you aware of your mortality – I could have been dead.

“It makes me appreciate every day in life and try to make the most of it. It reinforces the point of make the most of life when you can as you never know what’s around the corner.”

Red benches opening conversations

Stephen and John shared their stories as part of British Heart Foundation’s Red Benches campaign, marking 65 years since the charity began. Sixty-five red benches have been unveiled across the UK in tribute to people living with cardiovascular disease and to create spaces where survivors can talk openly about their experiences.

Every three minutes, someone in the UK dies from cardiovascular disease, and more than 230,000 people in Northern Ireland are living with heart and circulatory conditions.

Behind each bench is a powerful real-life story showing that, thanks to research, more people can survive and enjoy life with those they love.

Stephen is sharing his story to drive awareness of the impact if cardiovascular disease and wants to drive awareness of symptoms, particularly amongst men.

Every day in Northern Ireland, ten people like Stephen are admitted to hospital with a heart attack. While survival rates have improved, there is an urgent need to find better ways to identify those at risk – and prevent the worst from happening.

BHF Professor Charalambos Antoniades and his team have discovered that inflammation in the fat surrounding coronary arteries can be a heart attack warning sign. With years of BHF funding, they have trained an AI tool, CaRi-Heart™, to spot this inflammation on CT scans. The tool can help a doctor assess someone’s risk of having a heart attack up to a decade in advance, so they can act to help prevent heart attacks before they happen, potentially saving countless lives.

Stephen added: “Using data to predict future risk is hugely important. In industry, we use data to predict when machines will fail. Health should be no different. If data and research can help prevent heart attacks or identify risk earlier, that is a really important investment.”

John is sharing his story to encourage people to pay attention to the full range of heart attack symptoms, including the less common symptoms he experienced.

John said: “If there’s a family history you need to recognise that fact. I wasn’t on statins and should have been. I probably ignored my family history thinking it wouldn’t happen to me.

“Everybody was shocked when they hear about my health scare as I was relatively fit and healthy. And that’s probably a big wake-up call for anyone else who thinks it couldn’t happen to them.”

John added: “It’s not about people being overly concerned about what might happen but more about taking good care of yourself, being cognisant of symptoms and getting yourself checked out if you’re unsure.”

John, who is currently Chairman of Enterprise NI, is keen to promote the importance of cardiovascular research and the need for funding to support this.

He said: “I was in a way one of the lucky ones as I knew because of my family history, I had to pay attention to any heart-related symptoms and from diagnosis to surgery to aftercare, the treatment I received was excellent.

“However, by funding further cardiovascular research, this can only help improve both diagnosis and treatment through the work the British Heart Foundation is doing to prevent heart attacks.”

Fearghal McKinney, Head of British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland, said: “Stephen and John’s stories show that cardiovascular disease can affect anyone, regardless of their background, career or success. We are hugely grateful to them for speaking so openly about experiences that will resonate with people and families across Northern Ireland.

“Despite being one of Northern Ireland’s biggest killers, cardiovascular disease is still misunderstood or not taken seriously. By sharing real stories on our iconic red benches, we want to start conversations, challenge dangerous misconceptions and encourage people to take their heart health seriously.

“Research will help us save and improve more lives, but we can only fund the scientific breakthroughs of tomorrow thanks to the public’s generous donations.”

Every day, around 12 people in Northern Ireland die from cardiovascular disease. Donate now to keep Northern Ireland beating – visit bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/in-your-area/northern-ireland/keep-northern-ireland-beating