A serious kidney infection turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to 28-year-old Jon Cotterill-Bolsover.

It led to a chance diagnosis of a rare genetic heart condition which would have probably killed him by the time he was 31 if left undetected. 

Jon was being taken to Barnsley hospital when paramedics spotted abnormalities in his heart beat. 

He says staff in the A&E department were baffled until a doctor who had just got back from a SUDS conference raised the alert.

Special tests were ordered and Jon was diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome - which disrupts the heart's normal rhythm and is one of the main causes of SUDS. 

Jon, of Highfield Range, Darfield, said: "People with Brugada can be monitored for weeks and nothing will show up.  It was a complete coincidence that at that moment in time I had an irregular heart beat and for that doctor to be at the hospital as well was unbelievable." 

Two months after being referred to Northern General he was fitted with an Internal Cardio Defibrillator, which shocks the heart if it stops and improves and improves the odds of survival by more than 90 per cent. 

Jon, who will need to have the ICD batteries replaced every five years, said: "The period between diagnosis and having the defibrillator fitted was particularly scary because I knew what was wrong but I also knew there was nothing to help me." 

SUDS kills eight under 35s a week in the UK when their hearts stop beating without warning. 

The conditions which result in SUDS are often only diagnosed after death - which can occur in otherwise fit and healthy people within minutes of exercise, a shock or even unexpected noise. 

Former martial arts competitor Jon is fortunately forewarned and follows the advice of specialist doctors. 

He makes sure he gets enough sleep, cuts back on caffeine and alcohol and restricts his fitness routine to regular walks. 

Other precautions include keeping his mobile phone on vibrate and programming the bedside alarm to wake him up with songs that start softly.  Anything that begins with a loud guitar riff is strictly off the play list. 

Jon found out he had Brugada Syndrome in September, a time when he was awaiting the birth of his third child and preparing for a March wedding to fiancé Katrina. 

Since then he had been determined to come to terms with his illness. 

He said: "Me and my partner have a conversation about it every single night in some form or another. 

"It was difficult at first, particularly on the road to Christmas.  My way of tackling it was to accept it and try to turn it into something positive by making other people aware of the condition."

Jon, a recruitment manager at the Ventura call centre, supports the work of Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which encourages screening for those with a family history of heart arrhythmia.