‘Heart issues don’t mean your life is over’ by Lewis Nicholson
This is my story and my journey as a person who had a catastrophic birth defect of my heart and by chance and a MRI technician having a good eye, I am still here. In 2012 I was 18 years old and despite having an extremely active childhood including playing Rugby 6 days a week and through all months of the
My WPW story by Kathleen Dymond
My journey starts in my early teens when I became aware of my heart pounding in my chest, my heart racing, my throat constricting like hands that had wrapped themselves like a tight vine around my neck. I would feel faint like I would collapse and unable to catch my breath. It felt like I was going to suddenly die.
I have a heart condition but it’s not the end of the world!-by Gem O’Reilly
Since being diagnosed with my heart condition at 16 years old, I’ve been trying to understand my body, to understand my limitations and capabilities. That has stemmed into my life in many ways, particularly when it comes to challenging my body and perceptions of what makes a healthy lifestyle. It has led to me running long distance in a way
Life with LQTS and LVNC by Abi Edwards
October 2018, aged 14 and asymptomatic- I was taken to a CRY screening as a precautionary check by my mum at St. George’s Hospital. Little did I know that that test would be the beginning of a whole new journey in my life. I was told that they had picked up an abnormality and they thought it would be LQTS,
Every Cloud by Thomas Flanighan
After serving nine years in the military as a Royal Marines Commando, I needed a new challenge and started striving towards a career as a Commercial Pilot. The flying medical involved an ECG which showed abnormal results. At the time, I was not concerned as the Doctor who performed it was almost certain it was ‘Athletic Heart’. They asked me
It’s Scarier Not to Die by Jamie Poole
For the first time in 12 years, I experienced my first incident of an inappropriate shock. Not just one, but five, one after the other. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. To say it was painful would be a gross understatement. It was a combination of the most painful experience of my life, mixed with the most terrifying. Not only was
We thought something was wrong with ECG leads or monitor but… Blog by Jess-Lee Welch
I was in my final year of uni studying Sport and Exercise Science and we were in the lab doing ECGs on one another. When my lecturer (Dr David Oxborough) came to check on mine, he thought something was wrong with the monitor or leads. Long story short, the monitor wasn’t broken. After staying behind and completing an Echocardiogram on
My story of being diagnosed with LQT in the midst of a pandemic by Ruth Williams
In April of this year, I was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome (LQTS). In the midst of a pandemic, this was the most unwelcome conclusion to my ongoing investigations! In 2001, my sister Ellie died very suddenly whilst on a telephone call with me one morning. I found her body later that day with the phone still in her hand.
A Reflection on My Experience Living with a Heart Condition by Daniel Redfearn
I had no idea at the end of the summer holidays in 2011 that the following months would be a defining period of my life. I was thirteen years old and soon to start another year of secondary school. At this time, my favourite activity was undoubtedly exercise – I followed many different sports and enjoyed playing them too. At
My story so far – Left Ventricular Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy
Hello. My name is Phoebe and I’m 22 years old. When I was three years old, I was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital to have open heart surgery to repair an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), other wise known as a hole in my heart. Since then I was very healthy and finished school and college without many difficulties. For