A fit and healthy mum received a heartbreaking diagnosis after she collapsed at home following months of intense chest pain. Sophie Elliot from Derbyshire was experiencing 'the worst chest pain ever' when she passed out and was rushed to hospital.
She was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which happens when there is an extra electrical connection in the heart which causes it to beat abnormally fast. Sophie was unable to drive for three years or even toast to her 21st birthday as she wasn't allowed alcohol, the Mirror reports.
After years of restrictions on her lifestyle, the inspiring mum-of-two now plans to run the London Marathon which she hopes to complete in under four hours and 30 minutes. She told MEN: "I had three years of being quite strict and losing out on a lot of what I felt as a 21-year-old I should be doing because I had to be so careful as they weren’t sure how bad things could get."
The mum said that earlier in her life, there had been signs something was wrong with her heart. She had experienced chest pain as she was growing up but always put it down to anxiety or panic attacks.
After a few years, Sophie had an ablation which is a procedure that involves correcting abnormal heart rhythms by blocking electrical pathways in the heart to treat the condition. With the help of medication, the treatment meant that Sophie and Mark could finally start a family.
She sadly suffered two miscarriages before falling pregnant with her first child, Grace. Doctors were unable to tell her whether or not the miscarriages were related to her heart condition or not.
Sophie recalled: "When I got pregnant with Grace things took a really bad turn because my heart rate wouldn’t stay stable and one day unfortunately I fell on my bump. Grace was suffering from the stress of it, so they ended up delivering my daughter early.”
Two years later she had a similar experience with her son, Albie who also ended up having to be delivered early.
However, Sophie was determined to get back to full fitness and decided to take up running as it was something she could easily control by keeping an eye on her heart rate with a monitor while she ran.
Six months after the birth of her son and with the support of her cardiologist, she successfully completed the Chester Marathon in five hours. She is now getting ready to run the London Marathon and is hopeful she will beat her previous time.
She said: "I’ve done more training this time and I am a lot fitter because I am not six months post-baby like I was last time so I am hoping I will go quicker. Anything under 4 hours 30 would be really good – just a real achievement for me.”
Sophie, who works as a manager at O'Neill Patient Solicitors law firm in Stockport will be putting her running on hold till later this year when she is able to go in for another ablation procedure. However, she is determined to enjoy the day and raise money for the British Heart Foundation before the procedure takes place.
She said: “They’ve given us really good support and there’s been a few times when we have reached out for reassurance, so I just want to be able to give something back." Karen McDonnell, Senior Events Manager at BHF, said Sophie was a real inspiration.
She said: "She’s taking on this marathon challenge despite living with a heart condition herself – that's an incredible achievement and she should be very proud of herself."
“The money she raises will go towards funding lifesaving research to help people like herself who have heart or circulatory problems but who still want to lead full lives. Thank you, Sophie – and good luck on the day. I am sure you’re going to smash it!”
You can support Sophie on her Just Giving page here.
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