Stories

COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on the NHS and led to the delay of thousands of appointments and heart valve disease treatments. But behind every number is a story, and this is the story of Patient 359. All individual's identities have been kept anonymous.

COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on the NHS and led to the delay of thousands of appointments and heart valve disease treatments. But behind every number is a story, and this is the story of the family of Patient 146. All individual's identities have been kept anonymous.

COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on the NHS and led to the delay of thousands of appointments and heart valve disease treatments. But behind every number is a story, and this is the story of Patient 753. All patient's identities have been kept anonymous.

COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on the NHS and led to the delay of thousands of appointments and heart valve disease treatments. But behind every number is a story, and this is the story of Patient 564. All patient's identities have been kept anonymous.

“My valve disease story started when I was a child, and I actually found out it was leaking when I had open heart surgery in 1986. So this was actually my second open-heart surgery, as I was born with a hole between the pumping chambers which needed to be operated on. But at that time the valve itself wasn’t causing any problems - it was just something to be kept an eye on.

Birmingham MP, Steve McCabe  was diagnosed with heart valve disease twelve years ago. As with many heart valve disease patients he had not experienced any obvious symptoms.

In December 2018, 33 year old Support Worker at Autism Together, Jeanine Jones was celebrating the birth of her first daughter, Phoebe. Flash forward four months and she was being raced across Liverpool to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital with her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and brain starting to fail. There, she received her life saving double valve replacement.

Gary Russel is a 52-year-old Civil Servant from London. After being diagnosed with heart valve disease in his twenties at a medical to join the Police Force, his valve disease story went on for two decades before he was treated in 2013.