Two brave women are raising awareness of heart failure after both receiving devastating diagnoses aged 32 and 43.
Amy Smyth and Sharon Hughes-Magill told how after being given the news that they had the condition, their lives changed in an instant.
They are sharing their stories to mark World Heart Day on Sunday and to help put a spotlight on heart failure, its symptoms and encourage people to seek medical advice if they experience any signs of the condition.
They are also supporting the Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s (NICHS) current heart failure awareness campaign.
Amy from Armagh was told last year she has heart failure, aged 32, and said at first she “couldn’t comprehend what the doctor was telling me”.
“I didn’t know anything about heart failure. I had maybe seen it on TV and to me, heart failure was the end of your life, so it was terrifying,” she said.
The mother-of-two previously suffered three heart attacks and was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), when a tear happens in the wall of a coronary artery.
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Despite treatment and medication, Amy continued to be unwell and in January 2023 returned to her doctor as she felt “exhausted, completely drained, and was short of breath”.
“I’d already had the trauma of being diagnosed with SCAD, that was enough, but to have heart failure on top of that.
“I just couldn’t get my head around it.”
Undergoing further tests, Amy was told her heart function was at 40%, falling to 35% eight weeks later and by December last year, she “couldn’t function in my day-to-day tasks”.
“By that stage I had no quality of life, I was exhausted all the time, and it was horrendous,” she added.
But Amy says heart failure is “not the end of my life, I could learn to live with it” which is why she is supporting the NICHS campaign.
“There is often a lot of jargon used in medical settings and I want to play my part in helping people break through that and understand what heart failure is,” she said.
Sharon (45) from Newry was given her heart failure diagnosis in 2022.
The mother-of-four said: “I had so many questions as to why because I don’t smoke, I’m not a big drinker, there was no obvious reason for it, and still, nobody can give me a reason”.
Sharon battles constant extreme fatigue due to her heart failure, which has had an enormous impact on her day-to-day life.
But she said she “can’t let heart failure win; it’s not going to beat me”.
“It’s a real battle but I still need to get up every day, sort the children, get to work, and I think that’s the best thing for anyone with heart failure, to still have a purpose.
“Spreading awareness of the signs and symptoms, educating people, hopefully getting people diagnosed as early as possible so they have the best possible outcomes.
“Also educating people that it is something that can be lived with and it’s not a condition that only affects older people.”
