A 'fit and healthy' woman was left needing a heart transplant after she became breathless walking.
Charlotte Carney was studying forensic psychology at Liverpool John Moores University when she became 'quite concerned' about her breathlessness.
The 25-year-old said she was a regular gym goer and described herself as fit and healthy, but found herself out of breath when walking to lectures.
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The then 19-year-old, from Cheshire, went to the doctors to check to see if she had a chest infection, but everything came back normal.
Speaking to CheshireLive, Charlotte said: "It was when I went to university in 2015, where I was walking to lectures and was way more breathless than anyone else I walked with, which was quite concerning as I was going to the gym a lot and I was fit and healthy, so it never really made much sense why it was so difficult for me.
"I went to the GP and had all the normal checks to see if I had a chest infection or anything like that, but everything came back and said you're fine."
Despite initially being told she was fine by her GP, Charlotte was adamant something 'wasn't quite right' and underwent an electrocardiogram (ECG).
After having various tests done at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, she diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy.
It is a condition where the walls of the heart chambers become stiff and rigid and cannot relax properly after contracting.
She said: "By the time they found it, it was massively enlarged, and I had a big blood clot as well in one of my heart chambers.
"I was immediately put on blood thinners and beta blockers to try and combat the symptoms I was having but they said there's no cure for this we'll have to just try and manage it and eventually you'll need a heart transplant.
"So I thought I'm probably going to wait until I'm 40 or 50 to get as long as I can out of it, but it was quite clear that that wasn't going to happen.
"I'd say it was about a year after I was diagnosed that I was transplanted, because during that year nothing helped. My symptoms just got gradually worse to the point where I didn't leave the house. I'd go to Tesco and that was me done for a few days. I'd be absolutely worn out from that.
"I quite quickly got to an end stage heart failure point where I was essentially an 80-year-old lady in a 19-year-old's body."
Charlotte underwent a heart transplant in February 2018 to fix the issue, but the surgery left her kidneys struggling from the medication, and her new heart was not working properly.
She added: "The first few days were rough. Obviously I was unconscious so I wasn't aware of it. My new heart struggled at first, and my kidneys struggled at first from the drugs and my heart not working properly.
"It was about two weeks before I was actually awake and then by the time I woke up it was like everything is great. So I never experienced any of the stress, but my family would tell you a very different story of my time in hospital.
"It was hit and miss whether my body would accept the new heart or not or whether it would work properly.
"I've came home and touch wood I couldn't have expected it to go any better. I've not had any hospital admissions, so back to life as I would hope it to be, so it's gone really well."
On August 20, Amy Toolis, Charlotte's best friend, is taking on the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Cardiomyopathy UK, a charity Charlotte has volunteered for since her diagnosis.
Amy, who has been friends with Charlotte for 15 years, said: "I'm taking on this challenge to raise awareness of the amazing work that Cardiomyopathy UK do.
"They supported Charlotte pre and post transplant by answering questions and providing reassurance and support to her family and friends.
"I hope I'm able to give something back to Cardiomyopathy and thank them for supporting my best friend through the most challenging times."
Donations can be made via Amy's GoFundMe campaign page.
