Ingrid Tarrant suffers panic attack brought on by stress of marriage break-up

Chris Tarrant (top left) and wife Ingird yesterday in tears (top right). Fiona McKechnie and her husband (bottom)
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Ingrid Tarrant collapsed in the early hours of yesterday morning in a panic attack brought on by the stress of her marriage break-down.

Paramedics went to her home in Esher, Surrey, after her worried children dialled 999 when their mother, 51, became hysterical and started hyperventillating at 4.50am.

•How I told Tarrant our marriage was over by wife Ingrid •Tarrant's wife: Marriage ended after detectives caught him cheating

The attack was sparked by her 18-year-old daughter's boyfriend who turned up at the house in the early hours and had an argument with her daughter.

After a week of intense scrutiny and stress surrounding the break-down of her 15-year marriage to gameshow host Chris, the incident is understood to have 'tipped her over the edge'.

The emergency call was made just after 5am and paramedics who raced to the Tarrant home found Ingrid gasping for breath.

Family friends said that the tipping point for her had been when her daughter Samantha's boyfriend Jack turned up in the middle of the night and started causing trouble at the house.

A friend of the family explained: "At 4.40am this morning a young man called Jack who is dating Samantha, Chris's 18-year-old daughter returned to the Esher house, having left the house previously at around midnight.

"He tried to attract her attention and wake up the family by sounding his horn and shouting down the voice intercom at their gates.

"Ingrid Tarrant came out to confront him and to tell him to be quiet and to leave. He wouldn't leave. They called the police. The police arrived at 4.43am by which time Jack had left.

"The police were in the house talking to Ingrid who by now was in a high state of stress. She began to hyperventilate. The children began to get very worried about her and called an ambulance.

"It was caused by stress, pressure and exhaustion. It was yet another horrid event in what has turned out to be a terrible couple of weeks for Ingrid. She has now recovered from the attack and is resting up at home.'

Norwegian-born Ingrid was given oxygen by ambulance staff to help her breathe but was able to recover quite quickly and did not need to be rushed to hospital.

Ingrid had been in the media spotlight for more than a week after news that her marriage to Millionaire presenter Chris was on the rocks, broke in a Sunday newspaper. It has since emerged that Tarrant had a 10-year affair with a primary school deputy head teacher called Fiona McKechnie.

The break-up was confirmed on Monday when Tarrant issued a statement announcing the couple were to separate.

The police source said that the 999 message was dealt with by their headquarters control staff at Guildford and the emergency call for help flashed to the South East Coast Ambulance Service, based in Banstead, Surrey.

"I have been told that the paramedics were asked to be very discreet as it was immediately realised that the call was to the Tarrant's house and that Mrs Tarrant was under great stress because of her marriage breaking up."

Ingrid was treated by the two-man ambulance crew who asked her to breathe in oxygen from a bottle they took into the house. A friend said that she was diagnosed as having had a panic-attack and was told to call a doctor later in the morning.

"Ingrid has remained in bed most of the day and has stayed in the house. She has recovered but is under immense stress because of all the media attention.

"She didn't want to go to hospital and the paramedics decided, after taking her blood pressure and pulse, that she had recovered sufficiently to stay at home," the friend added.

"She has been advised to avoid becoming excitable and to try to relax," added the friend.

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