Vanessa was first diagnosed with cardiomyopathy when she was 32, she was diagnosed when she felt a pain in the left side of her chest and then passed out, but luckily she was sat outside the doctors in Germany. They told her she wouldn’t live for 5 more years but when she was in hospital, her husband had been posted back to the UK and she got put into the care of Freeman hospital, Newcastle, after a few years of being very poorly, they fitted a mechanical heart (called a VAD) which helped keep her heart pumping blood around her body and she proved the German doctors wrong, she managed to live for 11 years, waiting for a heart transplant. After 11 years she finally got a call at 3am on the 4th of August 2014 saying she had got a heart, finally at 9 oclock she was wheeled into surgery whilst her 3 daughters (Kayleigh, 14, Rebecca, 12, Lauren, 12) said their final goodbyes until the next time they were able to see her. After coming out of surgery she was out in intensive care and unfortunately she had two brain hemorrhages and sadly passed away. Throughout her journey she had made loads of friends from rehab, the Freeman staff (ward 24a), and her special transplant friend Karen Munden. She had loads of friends and a very supporting family. Everyday she will be greatly missed with her big smile and jokes. there was always a smile on her face and was hardly ever sad, but when she was you would know about it. She was a natural mother and a fantastic friend.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:44:04 +0000