A WOMAN has told of the tragic moment her husband collapsed in the gym after suffering a heart attack.

Warwick Fleming, 47, from Hove, had a sudden cardiac arrest while working out in his lunch break.

He was given CPR but by the time he was resuscitated his brain had been starved of oxygen.

Warwick is now in a wheelchair and unable to speak.

His wife Charlie lives in Hove with their two children while he is in hospital. She has spoken of her distress as, almost six months later, she seeks help to fund the round-the-clock care her husband needs. She said: “I’m still in shock. I know it’s been almost six months but we’ve been together for 21 years. It feels like a split second. I still keep thinking he’s going to start walking, but the prognosis isn’t good.”

After Warwick contracted severe sepsis and pneumonia in June, Charlie feared she had nearly lost her husband again.

She said: “It’s been incredibly tough emotionally, and difficult to juggle my job and looking after our kids. Vincent, our son, is 11, and our daughter Sofia is 14. They’ve been so patient.”

Charlie’s friends decided to set up a GoFundMe page on Wednesday. They are raising money for Warwick’s care and to help support the family as they visit him in hospital in London.

Charlie’s friend Saskia Smith said: “For the last six months Warwick has been in hospitals and special care units in and around London while Charlie visits him constantly. She is somehow managing to balance their family life in Brighton, caring, and ensuring a sense of normality for their two young children.

“Charlie is the ultimate pillar of strength and resilience but the painful reality is that this situation may continue for quite some time. As each day goes past the emotional and financial toll grows greater.

“Please help by donating to this fund which will go straight to Charlie and her family, and help to ease her financial burden and let her focus on her family’s emotional needs.”

Charlie and Warwick met in Brighton in 1998. She had just graduated and Warwick had arrived from New Zealand.

Charlie said: “His care needs are so serious and complex. We just want him home.”

You can donate to Charlie’s GoFundMePage on www.gofundme.com/zpumh-funds-for-charlie