Mum told aged 27 she'd have just weeks to live without new heart
A mum was told she had just weeks to live at age 27 after suffering a condition which left her lips blue.
Sarah Tierney had a rare congenital heart condition which left two of the main blood vessels in her organ switched around. Multiple surgeries at an early age led to a healthy childhood until the age of 15, when Sarah developed breathing difficulties. Daily doses of medication were needed soon after, which devastated Sarah who had "always wanted to be a mother". She said: "It was a bit of a shock because I’d gone for so long without needing anything.
Sarah was given just weeks to live after suffering from blue lips (British Heart Foundation)"My main concern was if I’d ever be able to have children as I’d always wanted to be a mother. Doctors told me I could, but I’d need to have them early – it was a huge relief to know that". But Sarah, who met husband Damon when she was 16, came off her medication to get pregnant. Their son Joseph was born at 31 weeks and tragically died after contracting group B strep. She recalled the "really rough time" and spoke of settling into her second pregnancy.
She said: "It was a really tough time and the pregnancy had put my heart under a lot of strain, so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get pregnant again. I was having a lot of arrhythmia issues and was put on beta blockers. I waited until things had settled and two years later I was pregnant with my son Jake." Her second pregnancy led to a number of weeks in hospital on oxygen support. Years later, Sarah began experiencing further heart troubles which has left it difficult to lead a normal life.
Sarah added: "After he was born I was put on a lot more heart failure medication. But because I had Jake after losing Joseph, it was all about him. I pushed myself to the back and just got on with things." Regular checkups at Queen Elizabeth Hospital led to Sarah being placed on a transplant list aged just 27, BirminghamLive reported. She said: "I was deteriorating badly. I couldn’t get up the stairs, my lips and nails were turning blue and things were worsening.
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"That December doctors wanted me to stay in hospital, but I was determined to have Christmas at home, unsure if it would be my last. I went in on the 28th and I remember them saying I would only have weeks to live without a new heart. It was a really tough time, especially when Jake came to visit. Each time I was left wondering if that would be the last time I’d see him." Following a successful, eight-hour transplant in 2015, Sarah was placed into a coma so her body could get used to her heart.
Sarah, now 36, said: "I felt like a new person. We were going on holiday and I could go cycling and swimming with Jake. It was like I had a new lease of life, it was amazing." Now, the British Heart Foundation are highlighting the story as a "powerful reminder of the hidden cost" behind heart disease. Balvinder Kaur, fundraising manager for the BHF, said: "By funding groundbreaking research, we can get a step closer to breakthroughs that could help save and improve millions of lives and outsmart heart disease for good."
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