They had to resuscitate me. They thought I was a goner

They had to resuscitate me. They thought I was a goner

31 August 2016

ON the waiting list for a heart transplant, Tommy McManus is alive thanks only to a specialist cardiac pump he has to carry with him everywhere.

The Downpatrick man became suddenly and gravely ill last year, was diagnosed with heart failure and later airlifted to a specialist unit in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After five weeks in hospital he had open heart surgery to fit a mechanical heart pump. 

Just 40 years old, he is now on the donor waiting list for a heart transplant.

It is the Freeman Hospital Trust in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he and other specialist patients from Northern Ireland have been treated, that Tommy wants to raise money for in a charity event at Eclipse Cinemas on October 8.

He also wants to raise awareness, pointing out that while heart attack symptoms are now more widely known, chronic conditions can often be misunderstood.

Danger signs for Tommy appeared last year when he put gaining weight down to middle age spread. It was fluid, however, and the first sign of a condition that almost cost him his life.

Having worked as an engineer abroad, Tommy was working in Aberdeen at the time and noticed he was feeling tired and rundown. Doctors initially put the symptoms down to asthma or a chest infection.

“This went on for six months of misdiagnosis,” he said. “I saw 12 different doctors. It was a big surgery and it was only when I saw the same doctor twice in a short period of time that she ordered an ECG. She saw the difference between Friday and Tuesday.”

Doctors realised that Tommy’s heartbeat was much faster than it should have been and it emerged that the build-up of fluid would have got worse until his organs failed. A diagnosis of heart failure followed.

“It was a complete shock,” he said. “I want to raise awareness as people should be looking out for these type of symptoms. It is not supported enough.”

Kept in hospital in Aberdeen for 11 days Tommy came home to Downpatrick in June for the graduation of his sister, Lisa Hagen, who, luckily, had graduated in the clinical physiology area of cardiac care. She is now Tommy’s main carer.

However, Tommy never made it to the graduation ceremony. He stayed at home because he didn’t feel up to it and collapsed going up the stairs, thankfully managing to make it to the phone. Admitted to the Royal Hospital in Belfast, he had a major heart attack. 

“All I remember was trying to get out of bed and waking up 15 minutes later,” Tommy recalled. “I was 12 minutes gone, they had to resuscitate me. I don’t remember anything about it.

“They thought I was a goner. My blood pressure was so low that they could not do dialysis on me. I was suffering from kidney and liver failure.”

Rushed to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tommy had a 10-week stay ahead of him. Half way through, his artificial heart pump, called a left ventricular assist device, was fitted. The device is connected by a cable which comes out of his abdomen to a battery pack and controller which he has to carry everywhere.

It has saved his life but Tommy’s continuing heart failure means that he ultimately needs a heart transplant. He has no idea how many are waiting with him.

“It could be tomorrow I get the call, it could be four months from now,” he said. “Because I have had this operation I am not a priority.”

Tommy’s condition is a rare one, with his heart problems actually starting at birth. He required an operation known as a mustard procedure in the Royal Hospital when he was just two years old.

His oxygenated blood travelled back to the lungs instead of going around the body.

The mustard procedure restores the circulation, but reverses the direction of the blood flow in the heart. Tommy now understands that as the right ventricle is not designed to support the high pressure work normally done by the left ventricle, over the years it can start to fail.

Alleged arson attacks at his GP surgery in Downpatrick also didn’t help when he took suddenly and seriously ill.

“There were two fires in Pound Lane clinic and my medical records were destroyed,” he said. “If they had the information, my medical information, they would have known the damage.

“I suppose my present condition is the ramifications of the heart defects coming back on me.”

As Tommy waits patiently for a heart transplant, the quality of his day to day life continues to be affected.

“I still get tired,” he explained. “I was always active in work. I cannot physically do what I used to do. It’s very hard to fill your day when you don’t have a job.”

Tommy’s sister, Roisin Taggart, is the manager of Eclipse Cinemas, Downpatrick, where the organ donation fundraiser in support of Tommy is being held on Saturday, October 8. 

As well as raising money for the Freeman Hospital, part of the money raised will be used to buy a defibrillator to keep at Eclipse Cinemas.

“At the age of 20, our fellow team member and friend, Declan McMullan, suffered severe cardiac arrest as a result of a rare underlying heart condition — Wolf Parkinson Whyte Syndrome,” said Roisin. “Declan now lives with Locked in Syndrome. 

“In Northern Ireland alone, there are almost 75,000 people living with heart disease. Only 35 per cent of the population are organ donors, and every year an average of 15 people die waiting on a transplant.”

With the Eclipse fundraiser being run in association with the British Heart Foundation there will be details on the night of how to sign the organ donor register.

Appealing to local people for their support, Roisin promises that despite the serious subject matter it will be a fun red carpet night out.

“It will be a VIP evening with a drinks reception at 7.30pm and a mystery movie at 8.15pm,” she said. “Tickets cost £10 and there will be a raffle and live music.

“Eclipse Cinemas will also donate £1 per ticket purchased in the week leading up to the charity night.”

Contact Eclipse Cinemas on 028 4461 6777 for more information.