shareyourwishes posted at Instagram:

Alex received a heart transplant in 2023 after being born with a congenital heart defect.

“I was born with a congenital heart defect I was diagnosed at a day old when I suddenly turned blue. It turned out that I had transposition of the great vessels.

At nine months old I had my first open heart surgery a procedure called a ‘reverse sensing and mustard’. I grew up knowing that I was different to my friends but my family never made me feel like a poorly person. I knew I had limitations but I never let my heart stop me. I took my tablets and attended my classes, with yearly hospital appointments, and at 18 I went off to Leeds to university.

In my twenties I started to suffer from palpitations and had to go to A&E where I was given adenosine to bring my heart rate down. In 2016 I was fitted with a pacemaker to help control these episodes and allow me to keep living my life as that Christmas I was going to Australia to visit family and while there I was going off and travelling the coast on my own.

Then in May 2017 I suffered a cardiac arrest at work. The amazing people I work with performed CPR and as work had defib’s this was used to bring me back. I was taken into hospital where I suffered a second arrest and a stroke which left me paralysed on my left hand side. This was the first time my doctors spoke to me about transplant but after spending 11 weeks in hospital and and were learnt to walk again. However I just wanted to go home. So I was fitted with an ICD (internal defib) and I carried on with the life I loved, spending my time going away on holiday, attending gigs and being with my friends and family.

Then by the end of 2022 I had started to feel more fatigued and ill. I blamed it on covid, but then in February of 2023 whilst away for a weekend in Glasgow, I just didn’t feel well so my partner took me to A&E where I was admitted and kept in for 5 days while my team at the Freeman found me a bed there.

Source: Instagram,
Account-Name: shareyourwishes

Created on: 2025-11-26 23:32:51