Raise money for The Heart Cells Foundation

In 2017, aged 29, I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.

This is the same heart condition that took the life of my sister, Anna, when she was just two and a half years old. This had a huge impact on the whole family and we were devastated. There is no cure for dilated cardiomyopathy and it felt like we knew what the future had in store for me.

Anna was listed for a heart transplant but unfortunately was too poorly to survive until a donor heart was found. I didn’t get the opportunity to meet my sister, she died two years before I was born but I grew up hearing stories about her and seeing the photographs of the memories my family made in her short life.

For both Anna and I, and many other people with cardiomyopathy, the condition caused congestive heart failure. Our hearts could no longer pump effectively. This causes extreme tiredness and breathlessness and we could no longer do the everyday activities that many people take for granted.

I was told that I was on “maximum medical therapy” and there was no other viable treatment options for me.

I had to accept that my life was never going to be what I wanted it to be. I would never have children of my own, I would never be able to live a normal life and my heart would continue to decline.

For those of you that know me well, you will know that I am not someone who gives up easily! I did as much research as I could and attended conferences and webinars on my condition in the hope of finding something that would help. I was a part of several patient networks that helped me to cope with my diagnosis and met so many wonderful people in the same situation.

One of these amazing people was Barry Newman. By chance, my husband was watching television and there Barry was talking about how stem cell therapy, funded by the Heart Cells Foundation, had saved his life. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! He had found what I had been looking for!

Barry put me in touch with the Heart Cells Foundation and Professor Mathur’s team at St Bart’s in London and I was accepted for the treatment!

Not only did I receive stem cell therapy but I received hope! To know that there are people who have dedicated their lives to finding treatment options for people like me is indescribable.

Shortly after having the therapy, my symptoms eased, I could breathe, I could walk, I could climb the stairs and I had more energy!

In February 2025 I got the confirmation that my heart has responded to the treatment. I still have dilated cardiomyopathy, but I no longer have congestive heart failure and am symptom free and feeling well. My heart function is now considered to be normal, something I never thought was possible.

I would like to raise as much money as I can for the Heart Cells Foundation. They are the charity that fund the life saving work done by Professor Mathur and his extraordinary team. The foundation need to fund phase 3 trials to gather more information and data and ultimately make this treatment available on the NHS for patients like me.

Any support that you can give is hugely appreciated, not only by me, but by the foundation, the team at St Bart’s and the millions of patients that this treatment could help in the future!

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about Heart Cells Foundation: Creating a new field of medicine in the 21st Century.