Arlington father survives cardiac arrest after broken heart syndrome – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Dalton Lovell was watching his wife and daughter practice martial arts at an Arlington gym when he suddenly started feeling dizzy.

He tried to get his wife’s attention, but something was wrong.

“I remember feeling a little dizzy and thinking, oh, I need to have Becca. And that’s really the last thing I remember,” Lovell recalls.

Seconds later, the 35-year-old father suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

Fortunately, several people at the gym knew CPR and immediately jumped into action.

For about 10 minutes, bystanders took turns performing chest compressions until help arrived.

Among those who helped was Lisa Britt, emergency department director at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, who was at the gym.

“I fully believe that CPR from an immediate bystander, in addition to the simple fact that the higher power was with Dalton, helped save his life,” Britt said.

Lovell was rushed to the Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital emergency department and then to Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital in Arlington, where a cardiac team was waiting to treat him, but his medical history revealed something unusual.

Years earlier, Lovell had been diagnosed with a condition known as broken heart syndrome. Despite its name, broken heart syndrome is not necessarily caused by heartbreak.

This condition, known medically as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, occurs when part of the heart muscle suddenly weakens, making it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively.

According to the American Heart Association, this disease is linked to a surge of stress hormones following an intense emotional or physical event.

The death of a loved one, a breakup or a frightening experience can trigger it, as can a serious illness, surgery or even an unexpected happy event. Symptoms often resemble a heart attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath.

However, unlike a typical heart attack caused by a blocked artery, broken heart syndrome involves a temporary change in the way the heart muscle functions.

Most patients recover within a few days or weeks, but the disease can sometimes cause serious complications, including heart failure, dangerous heart rhythms, and cardiac arrest.

The Mayo Clinic reports that broken heart syndrome is more common in women, especially those over 50. However, men who develop this condition may face a higher risk of death.

A 2025 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that men hospitalized for broken heart syndrome were twice as likely to die as women.

The researchers also found that serious complications remained a concern, even though the illness is often described as temporary.

Lovell said he continued to live a relatively normal life after his earlier diagnosis, monitoring his blood pressure and general health.

But looking back, he remembers feeling some discomfort before his cardiac arrest.

“I had felt a little pain, maybe in my shoulders and neck, that I kind of brushed off like I was stressed,” he said.

After his cardiac arrest, doctors recommended an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, a device that monitors the heart and can deliver a shock to correct certain dangerous rhythms.

Dr. Aref Obagi, an interventional cardiologist at Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital in Arlington, said the device could help protect Lovell if another life-threatening heart rhythm develops.

Lovell returned home after eight days of hospital treatment.

His recovery also took him back to the martial arts gym where strangers and friends worked together to save his life.

One of the people who performed CPR that day helped teach Lovell martial arts and tied a white belt around his waist.

“Seeing the guy who saved my life doing CPR, and now he’s teaching me…and then he put this white belt on me. It was like a huge moment,” Lovell said.

Lovell’s survival highlights the importance of acting quickly when someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest.

According to the American Heart Association, about 350,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year in the United States, and about 90 percent do not survive.

However, immediate CPR can double or even triple a person’s chances of survival.

The association recommends that anyone who sees a teenager or adult suddenly collapse and become unresponsive call 911 and begin chest compressions if the person is not breathing normally.

Just three weeks after Lovell’s cardiac arrest, the martial arts gym held a hands-on CPR training session for about 70 children, parents and other family members.

For Lovell and his wife Becca, the experience became an opportunity to encourage others to learn a skill that could save someone’s life.

“I have a second chance. God is not done with me yet,” Lovell said.

Medical experts emphasize that unexplained chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting or other sudden symptoms should never be ignored.

Because broken heart syndrome can look a lot like a heart attack, anyone experiencing possible heart attack symptoms should seek emergency medical attention rather than trying to determine the cause themselves.

For more information about the condition, see the American Heart Association’s guide to broken heart syndrome.