James Taylor’s book explains how a heart condition turned his world upside down: ‘I enjoy life... I’m scared all the time but I can live with that’

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Will Macpherson1 June 2018

When James Taylor sleeps at night, he cannot lie on his left side, because he can feel his heart’s every beat when he does. When he crosses a busy road, or dashes for cover as it rains, he has to slow and think about his heart. “Yeah,” he says, “life has changed dramatically.”

Taylor has to avoid every situation that could make that heart beat faster so, last summer, when he got married, he pre-recorded his speech and played it on a projector. His wife, Jose, his rock who spent 16 nights with him in hospital, could not bring herself to leave him waiting at the altar, so arrived bang on time.

Taylor’s book, Cut Short, hits shelves today. It is a remarkable account of his career, the manner in which it ended and the two very strange years since.

After falling ill while in Cambridge for a pre-season match in 2016, Taylor was diagnosed with ARVC (Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy), forced to retire at 26 and, reluctantly at first but gratefully now, fitted with a defibrillator.

“I was scared,” he says. “I’d never been scared. I had the perfect life, one I’d spent two decades building towards, never had to do anything I considered work and, then, just the unknown.”

That fearlessness may have gone, but a feature of the book is that he does not shy away from being honest about those who have angered him. Kevin Pietersen and Dominic Cork feature, while former coach Wayne Noon is rebuked for the way he made Taylor feel during his early days at Nottinghamshire.

He does not shy away either from the word “ego”. He worked hard in the gym, and cared how he looked. Soon, he was barely able to look in the mirror as his muscles faded. He suffered “not being the best at something”.

"I’m lucky. Many people with this condition just drop dead"

James Taylor

He says now he is jealous of cricketers because “I had an easy life back then”. He may be right, but he had fought back into the Test side the hard way.

It is worth wondering what he could have done for England’s brittle batting over the last two years. Seven Tests was no return for his effort but his record in all 50-over cricket was superb; 27 ODIs brought an average of 42, while he retired with the fifth-best List A average ever — 53.11.

There are a number of moments where Taylor’s accounts of his struggles make your blood curdle. Worst of all was the time in Antigua on a coaching trip with his old school when his defib went off, triggered by a pool water pump, propelling him 10ft back. That night, he woke startled with an alarm ringing and his heart beating rapidly. Convinced he was going to die, he called Jose, effectively to say goodbye. She contacted the hospital, who informed him that his heart was in rhythm and the alarm was a reminder to have the defib reset.

“That’s the scariest moment I have experienced,” says Taylor. “I thought I was bust. When it goes off, it’s like being punched by Anthony Joshua and then sticking your hand in the mains electrics, I reckon. If it goes off, it’s terrible. Not only is my heart restarted but I lose my driving licence for six months and all sorts of other things.”

Taylor’s condition could, and maybe should, have been identified earlier. Twice he had been tested, with both revealing irregularities, yet no one who treated him on the day he fell ill knew this. “I reckon I’m lucky,” he says. “I could have easily not played cricket for England because the condition should have been picked up when I was 19. I should really have had to stop then.”

It does not entirely explain, however, how a hyperfit international cricketer, on oxygen, struggling to breath and suffering heart palpitations, was allowed to travel back from Fenner’s — Cambridge University’s ground — to Nottingham, driven by the county’s overseas player Jackson Bird, whom he had met for the first time that day. Even stranger, considering that Papworth Hospital — probably the country’s leading heart hospital — is a mere 15 miles outside Cambridge.

“I should have died,” he said. “Eighty per cent of those with my condition it’s discovered post mortem. Many just drop dead. I don’t take it for granted. It should have been detected and, hopefully, the policies and systems are being ironed out so that no one has this situation again.”

The greatest shock he received was how poorly he was insured; he was barely due a year’s earnings.

“You lie in hospital thinking, ‘this is awful, but at least I’m well insured’,” he says. And then you learn you’re not. I was baffled. I still am. I didn’t qualify for the critical injury insurance, which is ludicrous given I so nearly died. Even starting a new career, there are so many jobs I couldn’t do. It hurt to know the system was not good enough.”

"You lie in hospital thinking, ‘This is awful but at least I’m well insured’ — and  then you learn you’re not"

James Taylor

In interviews, Taylor bit his tongue as he and his agent, Luke Sutton, had some “interesting conversations” with the ECB, “who were good” and the players’ union (PCA), “who were disappointing at times”. Everyone, he acknowledges, “was learning on the job”, and things look set to improve. Public support helped, and media and coaching work quickly popped up.

“I want to raise awareness for heart conditions,” he says. “But I also want to force change in outdated systems and policies and make cricketers aware of what they are signing and what they are covered for.”

Taylor’s world has been flipped upside down, but he sees only the positives.

“I see more of Jose,” he says. “When we were lying in that hospital bed with cables coming out of me, we resolved to make the best of a bad situation.”

Towards the end of the book, Jose, a teacher, contributes a chapter, which reflects what a success of that promise they have made, but also what a team effort it has been, highlighting the role carers play in such situations, too.

“I built a support network — family, friends, especially Jose — to help me with my cricket,” says Taylor. “Ironically, they didn’t help me with my cricket, but with life after it.

“My cricket career feels a lifetime ago, because I’ve seen so much more after than I did before,” he continues. “I’ve toured with Test Match Special, I’ve worked on Sky and BT, I’ve coached England U-19s, and am an ECB selection scout. I’ve written columns and a book.

“All that has given me perspective, and self-awareness. I was still blinkered, and now I’m not. I enjoy life. I’m scared all the time, but I can live with that.”

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