– University graduate had her device fitted at just 20 years old and shares how walking has become her therapy –

A former talented teenage Gaelic footballer, who had to have a pacemaker fitted at just 20 years of age due to an underlying heart condition, has spoken about how walking has given her a new lease of life.

Caoimhe Loughran from Newry was fit and active throughout her youth – playing Gaelic football to county standard.

But at 17, she started suffering from exhaustion and a fast heart rate – feeling as though her heart was “pounding” through her chest.

Once the symptoms became more pronounced and she suffered numerous collapses, Caoimhe was fitted with an Implantable Loop Recorder which detected pauses in her heart rhythm.

After experiencing these episodes in her sleep, Caoimhe was fitted with a pacemaker at the age of only 20 and spent 13 days in hospital recovering before being discharged on Christmas Eve 2022.

Now 23, Caoimhe wants to turn her experience into a positive and help others.

Ahead of Heart Month in February, Caoimhe is encouraging people to sign up to BHF’s Walk for Hearts.

 

Caoimhe said: “I felt really alone at the start of my heart disease journey. When I saw the Walk for Hearts event on social media, it immediately spoke to me.

“It gave me the chance to raise money for life-saving research while also helping my own physical and mental health.

“For me, it was also about taking back some control. Getting diagnosed so young felt like my whole life was out of my hands but signing up to Walk for Hearts was the first time I chose to do something positive with my condition.

“When I connected with the online community, I realised I wasn’t alone, there were others walking for their own reasons, whether in memory of loved ones or because of their lived experience. There was power in that.

“Walking opened up conversations in my community about heart disease, which felt really important.

“What really kept me going was reminding myself why I was doing it. Every mile meant more funds for research that can change lives, just like mine has been changed.

“Even with a pacemaker, I feel lucky to be here. I’ve survived and taking part in this challenge is my way of celebrating that.”

 

Fearghal McKinney, Head of British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland, said: “Walking is a great way for everyone to weave exercise into their daily routines and help look after their cardiovascular health, especially during the winter months.

“If you are one of the 230,000 people in Northern Ireland living with cardiovascular disease and you are able to exercise, walking could be especially helpful, as it is low impact and you can build up slowly at a pace that’s suitable for you. However, it’s important to speak with your own doctor for personalised advice.

“Taking part in BHF’s ‘Walk for Hearts’ challenge in February is a fantastic way to set yourself a goal and build up a good walking habit. You’ll also be helping fund life-saving cardiovascular research.”

While Caoimhe, who has recently finished a master’s in public health specialising in heart health, is hoping to raise valuable funds for BHF through ‘Walk for Hearts’, the Co. Down woman is also keen to share her story to advocate for young people with heart conditions.

It’s been a difficult journey for Caoimhe as she felt at the start she was being ignored.

The Covid pandemic in 2020 certainly, she believes, stalled her diagnosis.

She admits: “I did have a quite a long battle with trying to get heard unfortunately, I do feel I was dismissed for being a woman with the belief that my symptoms were down to my menstrual cycle or the pill.

“I was told I had anxiety on numerous occasions as well,” Caoimhe added.

“It was all just quite difficult to navigate to be honest, and I just felt like no one was listening to me.

“When I was 17, the palpitations started to get a lot worse and much more frequent.

“It meant I had to stop playing a lot of my sport – I played basketball and Gaelic football, training every night of the week. I played for multiple teams at all different levels.

“So, I was very active, very, very active. People started making comments about my complexion, how pale I was and how dark my eyes were. I just simply was not well, but no one could understand why.

“I remember presenting to A&E one time and because of Covid I felt they just didn’t have time for me. When I look back, if my diagnosis had come a lot earlier it probably would have prevented a lot of the other things I went through.

“I was put on medication for my palpitations, like beta blockers and I had heart monitors which picked up extra heartbeats.

“So, they were treating all of that – but the problem was when my GP referred me to a cardiologist there was a long wait.

 

During this time, Caoimhe had also just started university, so this brought an added pressure to her life.

She adds: “I was doing nutrition in my undergrad, and for the first two years I was not 100%.

“I was medicated, and I was just struggling to live a normal life like all my friends who were happy and healthy.

“I had stopped all my sports and was becoming less and less active – I just knew I was unwell.

“Then in September 2022 I went into my placement year of my undergrad – that’s when it was getting to be the worst that it ever had been.

“In the first week of my placement, I ended up collapsing at work, I completely passed out – broke my glasses, my tooth came out and I had a bulge on my head.

“It was then that that my doctor decided to put in the Implantable Loop Recorder – so they could see what was happening and possibly get a diagnosis.

“I remember when the person put it in, they said ‘oh don’t worry you’ll have this back out of you in three years, nothing will happen and you’ll never need any other device’.”

 

However, just two months later, episodes in her sleep did happen which forced Caoimhe, at just 20, to have a pacemaker implanted.

Caoimhe continues: “Around December I was sleeping one night and my heart was stopping in my sleep.

“I remember when I woke up the next morning, I had loads of phone calls from the hospital saying you need to come in right away.

“I had ‘Heart Block’ – it’s hard to describe fully but basically what was happening was the heartbeat would generate from the top and when it got sent to the bottom it wouldn’t fire back up. So that there was like a break in the circuit when there was a pause between beating – hence I started collapsing.

“When I was sleeping that particular night it was getting progressively longer, the first pause was maybe four seconds, and then the next pause was like 11 seconds and then the next 20 seconds – the pauses were becoming too long.

“They theorized that if they didn’t intervene, I probably would end up just not waking up as it potentially could pause too long and then not start beating again.

“That was obviously very difficult to hear, I mean at that time I was only 20 – it just was crazy.

“You never really expect anything like that to happen, especially when you are so young.

“Another thing they said was that every time my heart paused for like 11 seconds or 20 seconds, how much my heart would then have to work to get back up to speed. It would have been seriously tiring my heart out and therefore left me feeling exhausted.

“You go to sleep, and then you wake up and think you’ve got a full night’s sleep, but within that time your heart stops four times. It is impossible to have a restful night sleep if that’s happening – and that was basically how I had been living.

“I was diagnosed with a condition called Sick Sinus Syndrome or Sinus Node Disfunction. The MRI showed that structurally my heart was normal – there was no scarring from when my heart was stopping, it was purely conduction related. Basically, electrically my heart was all over the place.

“When I was told I had to have a pacemaker I just felt so vulnerable to be honest.”

Caoimhe struggled to take in that at just 20 years of age, she would need a pacemaker. The Co. Down woman always felt they were for older people. She was naturally also greatly concerned for her future.

“It’s quite a heavy thing to be told when you’re so young and have lived a generally normal and healthy life until that point,” stresses Caoimhe.

“I was given a British Heart Foundation book “Living with a Pacemaker,” and I remember on the front was a gorgeous elderly lady, and I just felt like an alien.

“I could not relate to the people or the demographic that I thought these devices were being used in – I had never known or even heard of a younger person having anything like this.

“That whole month of December that I was in hospital I remember it being very difficult for me because I was on a ward with a lot of elderly people. I was very angry at that time – “why is it happening to me. I’m so young”.

“I got my pacemaker put in on 22nd December and was discharged on Christmas Eve. It really was the worst time of my life, I was so low, even when I got discharged, I was very depressed.

“I had so many questions about my future and children that I would love to have in the future.

“I just felt like I had no control over anything in my life and that this was just happening and I just had to get on with it.

Throughout Caoimhe’s cardiac journey, her family have been a great support mechanism.

She credits her mother, father, siblings and boyfriend for giving her the strength to have a positive outlook on life.

She’s no longer on medication and simply has an annual check-up with her consultant.

While team sports are no longer possible, Caoimhe is enjoying still being active by walking and cycling.

Caoimhe adds: “I still have a small bout of symptoms occasionally, but I have to say ever since I got the pacemaker implanted my quality of life has drastically improved.

“I’m not on any medication now, it could always be reviewed again if I experience symptoms – but for now, I just have my yearly peacemaker checkup and a yearly appointment with my consultant.

“I’m not doing my sports unfortunately; I was told that the contact and team sports would not be viable with my device.

“So that side of my life is gone, but I love walking, cycling and things like that – I have thought about coaching, that’s something I’d love to do.

“Graduating in summer 2024 was a milestone – I was asked to give the student speech at my graduation ceremony.

“It was such a proud moment for me not only to be graduating but just thinking that I could have died the year before.

“I continued to throw myself into the studies, and I’m proud to say I completed my Masters in December in public health, specializing in heart health – directly because of everything I had been through.

“I am so committed to make a positive difference with research, evidence-based recommendations and guidelines; always just having the patient at the centre of the service and the work is something that I feel so strongly about.

“I’m trying to look at it that this was always supposed to be my path, and I’m up for it!”

This Heart Month, British Heart Foundation is encouraging everyone to take part in their Walk for Hearts fundraising challenge – to walk 28, 50 or 100 miles during February. Participants can sign up from now until February 14th. To find out more, visit bhf.org.uk/walkforhearts