A new mum had the scare of her life when a crippling viral infection caused her heart to stop, devastatingly separating her from her son just three months after he was born.
Holli Cheung, a young mum from Norwich and now living in Aylesbury, was diagnosed with the virus acute myocarditis – a rare virus which attacked her body, causing her heart to stop beating – just three months after giving birth to baby Jordan.
Holli, a European Marketing Manager, explained: “After fainting on New Year’s Day I visited the doctor. Thinking it was the flu and with no other symptoms, I was advised to go home to rest. Just an hour later, as I held my baby on my lap, I passed out and my son rolled off my lap onto the floor.
“The next thing I knew I was surrounded by paramedics along with my husband Jason and was on a stretcher on my way to hospital.”
Holli woke hours later to discover she had been transferred to a third hospital at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and was suffering inconsistent heart rhythms and major heart failure. Just an hour after arriving at the hospital, Holli suffered a cardiac arrest and relied upon five nurses performing CPR for 45 minutes to stay alive, whilst a doctor inserted an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine into Holli’s body to take over the function of her heart and lungs.
The next day, the ECMO was replaced with a Biventricular Assist device (Bi-VAD) which was used to support the left and right ventricles of her heart as the consultants and doctors monitored her on a daily basis to see if her heart would recover.
Holli and her family were advised of the risks of her being on the Bi-VADs and that it should only be used as a temporary bridge to keep her alive.
She said: “The Bi-VAD isn’t supposed to be left in the body for long but my heart wasn’t recovering properly… talk turned to finding a suitable donor for a heart transplant.
“It was terrifying. I couldn’t believe this was my life.”
To help lift her spirits, Holli’s husband Jason, with support from staff on the Critical Care Unit, bought their son Jordan onto the ward, where he slept beside Holli for a couple of hours.
She said: “Being away from my son was gut-wrenching. Not being able to pick him up, soothe him, change him or feed him was like a pain I can’t describe.
“To help me, family and friends printed photos of him and put posters up all over my room. It became like a shrine and we all started to call the room, the ‘Jordan Suite’.
Just as it seemed all hope was lost, something miraculous happened and Holli’s heart started to beat again.
“I have no idea what happened that night when Jordan slept beside me, all I know is that when the doctors and consultants came round on their ward rounds the next day, they were astonished to see my heart beating. Since that night, slowly but surely my heart got a little stronger and I started to recover. After two weeks, the Bi-VADs were removed and my heart was strong enough to function on its own again.
“My baby saved me, there is no doubt about that. He kept me fighting, he made me stronger and determined to get better and he helped me recover.”
Now, three months after leaving the hospital, Holli is raising as much money as she can to give back to the hospital that cared for her.
She said: “I, alongside my family, friends and staff at the QE, will take part in the Birmingham Color Run to raise money for the hospital’s Critical Care Unit where I was treated.
“I chose the color run as it is achievable for everyone, fun and more importantly local to the hospital so staff can join in as well.
“Without the great staff at the QE, my husband, my family and my darling baby, I wouldn’t be here today. This is my way of thanking each and every one of them, because I owe them my life.”
The color run takes place on 15th August in Birmingham NEC. To sponsor Holli and her team please visit www.justgiving.com/Holli-CheuNg.
