Mehreen Ahmed, Age 23, Lincolnshire, Freeman Heart & Lung Adults Heart Transplant
Mehreen Ahmed was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2017. She remained stable on medication until April 2023, when she started to experience symptoms of heart failure.
At home from university to study for her exams over the Easter holidays, Mehreen went from normal life to experiencing heart failure symptoms very quickly. In just two weeks, she experienced fatigue, nausea, vomiting and couldn’t walk more than 10 steps at a time.
She was transferred to Leeds Hospital, where she had been having regular check-ups. Due to her symptoms, the doctors wanted to implant a defibrillator. She had the implant in May 2023, but quickly became worse and was transferred to Newcastle to Freeman Hospital for a transplant assessment.
Mehreen’s ICD had become infected, so the doctors planned to take it out and put it on the other side of her chest. However, on the day she was due to have the operation, she started to get worse and was put on the urgent transplant list on 16thJune. The very next day, on 17th June, she received the call that there was a new heart for her – which was all very sudden and unexpected.
Mehreen didn’t have time to process the whole transplant experience until a few months later – how had she gone from being a university student to needing a new heart within two months?!
Her recovery has been very good over the past year. After some initial issues with her wound healing, a month later she had healed and started cardiac recovery locally. She was able to get back up and walking quickly and took up running to regain fitness and felt the difference her new heart made instantly. Before her transplant, Mehreen could only run for 30 seconds before becoming out of breath; however now, she can run for up to 4 minutes without stopping, which is a huge achievement. She still takes it slowly, and always warms up and cools down after running, following the doctor’s advice.
Mehreen is very grateful for her new heart and is keen to raise awareness of organ donation, especially within ethnic minority communities like her own where it is often a taboo topic. She started a blog, where she writes about her experiences - Mehreen's Heart-To-Heart Blog.
Mehreen heard about the British Transplant Games while in hospital after her heart transplant. In 2024, she took part for the first time as part of The Freeman Heart & Lung Adults Team, competing in the 100m and 800m races, and the table tennis.
This year’s Games were particularly exciting for Mehreen they took place in Nottingham, the same city as her university (University of Nottingham) – that she graduated from in July 2024.
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