Padstow Heights mother and accredited running coach Rachel Allworth was in an exercise class two years ago when she started having trouble breathing.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games baton relay runner, 45, was in peak fitness and put it down to stress surrounding Covid-19 but a couple of days later, started vomiting and ‘looked grey’.
Husband Michael called an ambulance and she spent the next 10 days in hospital finding out that her normal ‘fit’ heart rate of 50 beats a minute was on 266 bpm.
“I was soon diagnosed with a type of cardiomyopathy, had a defibrillator inserted into my chest and was told that I would never run again,” she said.
Rachel suffers from Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a disease of the heart muscle where fatty fibrous tissue replaces normal heart muscle.
“I am back to walking and pilates as well as coaching runners but I can’t stress enough that if you feel anything different such as dizziness, see your GP immediately,” she said.
“It can happen to anyone and the surgeons told me I only had about 10 minutes to live when I arrived at hospital so I’m thankful we got there in time.”
Sadly, heart disease is the single biggest cause of Australian deaths.
This coming February for ‘REDFEB’, Heart Research Australia is inviting residents to wear ‘red’ for someone close to their heart to help keep families together for longer.
For more info or to make a donation, go to heartresearch.com.au/wrd/.
Mum says ask yourself is it a sign of heart disease?
ATHLETES and runners of all ages are being urged not to ignore dizziness or breathlessness after exercising because what they think might be a normal reaction, could be a sign of heart disease.
