Fit and healthy Sydney dad, 26, dies after heart attack on run

The 26-year-old set off for a run on Boxing Day but he never returned.

A young Sydney father died suddenly while on a run on Boxing Day after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Phillip Davies, 26, his pregnant wife Kat and their two-year-old daughter were celebrating the Christmas period with his family in Newcastle, on NSW’s north coast.

Phillip went for a run on Boxing Day at about 10pm, to test out a new smart watch his wife had got him as a present.

At about 1am Kat woke up and realised her husband had not returned from his run.

Kat’s sister Stephanie told Daily Mail Australia that Phillip’s dad and sister got in the car and started searching for him. About an hour later they found Phillip, but he was “not in a good way.”

“He had just collapsed on the side of the road. He had been already gone for quite some time at that point,” Stephanie told the publication.

Stephanie said her brother-in-law was very fit and healthy and regularly exercised.

She said doctors told the family Phillip most likely suffered cardiac arrhythmia, which can go undiagnosed even in very healthy people.

Phillip Davies, 26, and his wife Kat. Picture: Facebook

A heart arrhythmia occurs when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat don’t work properly, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The heart may beat too fast or too slow, or the pattern of the heartbeat may be inconsistent.

Phillip’s family have requested genetic testing to find out if he had a pre-existing or hereditary condition.

Stephanie has started a GoFundMe to help Kat, their daughter, and unborn child, particularly with needed works on a house the family had bought.

“Phillip and Kat had been renovating their fixer-upper in western Sydney,” Stephanie explained.

Phillip Davies, 26, and his wife Kat. Picture: Facebook

“It currently has no kitchen, no actual walls upstairs, and a highly dubious ‘bathroom’.”

She said that thankfully, Phillip had life insurance with the Australian Defence Force, but the bereavement team informed the family it would be six months before the payout would be complete.

“In the meantime, Kat is pregnant with no income,” Stephanie said.

“Phillip (and his amazingly talented parents) had been doing the majority of the reno work, but we’ll now need to get some tradies on-board to help make the house liveable in a reasonable time frame.

“So, let’s help finish what Phillip started in making their house into a beautiful family home.”

Originally published as Fit and healthy Sydney dad, 26, dies after heart attack on run