A dad-of-three who had an unexpected heart attack while on a bike ride is now taking on a 61-mile cycling challenge.

Joel Hodges, of Goudhurst, started to feel a "crushing pain" in his chest while on his bike nine months ago.

Joel, 46, said: "I pulled over and I started to feel nauseous and have pain down my left arm.

"I am very fit and healthy, so it never occurred to me that anything too serious could be wrong. I even tried to get back on my bike. I took two pedals and promptly fell over.

"I called my wife to see if she could meet me. Fortunately, she was only five minutes away. She picked me up and drove me to hospital."

Joel was taken into A&E for a series of tests which came back with some unusual readings so he was kept in for an angiogram.

He added: "I apologised to the nurse for wasting their time, they said 'do not be ridiculous, you have had a heart attack'. Until then, the idea of a heart attack had never entered my mind. In hindsight, that sounds ridiculous as I had many of the classic symptoms.

"I am very grateful my wife took me to hospital, because I would not have called an ambulance.”

At hospital he was told he had had a heart attack.

The insurance worker was given clot-bursting medicine to clear the blockage as the clot's position meant a coronary angioplasty by inserting a stent to open the artery was impossible. He went home four days later but found it difficult to accept what had happened.

"I have always been very active," he said. "I was a healthy weight and there is no history of heart problems in my family. I was competing in triathlons and exercising five or six times a week.

"If there was a clear reason why the heart attack happened, it would have helped me make sense of the experience.”

He is now doing the British Heart Foundation’s London to Brighton Off Road Bike Ride on September 17 to raise money for the charity. You can donate here.

The event will see more than 2,700 people cycle 61 miles and climb 1,295 feet. Joel will be taking part alongside his brother and two friends.