A teenager thought she was “going to die” after a seizure at her Dundee home.
Katie Mason, who was 15 at the time, and her mum Pauline, 43, were both diagnosed with a heart condition following the incident last year.
Pauline rushed her daughter to Ninewells Hospital and Katie was immediately taken into A&E.
The youngster, from Kirkton, went on to have a second seizure hours later in her sleep.
She said: “I felt scared and sick. I had no idea what was going on – I thought I was going to die.
“I was confused about what was happening inside my body. It wasn’t until the next day that I started not to feel like that.”
Katie went through a series of tests, including an ECG to check her heart, before medics diagnosed her with long QT syndrome.
The condition, which can cause her heart to speed up, is hereditary meaning Katie would have had it since birth.
Pauline was also tested and diagnosed with the condition at the same time.
Katie was given an external defibrillator to carry around everywhere and her immediate family and two closest friends were trained in CPR.
She said: “I wasn’t allowed to go out without someone who could do CPR so I wouldn’t go out a lot.
“It was always on my mind.”
In November – three months after the incident – Katie had an internal defibrillator, or ICD, fitted inside her body.
This has allowed her to regain some of her freedom and means she can take part in some sports again.
She added: “Now I’m able to do anything I used to. I can go out but I get really tired and out of breath easily.
“The worry is still there, but not as much as before I had the ICD fitted.”
Fundraising for defibrillator trainer
Katie and Pauline are now helping their friend Jacq Stewart – who’s son Zachary also has a heart condition – raise money for a defibrillator trainer machine.
The device is used to train people in how to use defibrillators.
Currently NHS Tayside does not have one of these training machines within its service.
Jacq, also from Kirkton, said: “I spoke to the cardiac liaison nurse and she is getting new defibrillators but she can’t show anyone how to use them because they don’t have the trainer.
“They have a machine they can rent from the college but it needs to be booked weeks in advance and some kids need to be trained within a week.”
The 40-year-old is hoping to raise £1,100 to purchase the machine and equipment required for it through a JustGiving page and a fundraising event.
Jacq previously set up Tayside Hearts Together to connect and support families in the area with children with heart conditions.
And she is campaigning for testing of every baby at birth so that situations such as Katie’s do not continue to arise.
She added: “A lot of children are not being diagnosed until it’s too late or too severe.
“Usually it’s only when a baby becomes very unwell that they are tested – it’s a simple test and diagnosis can be made straight away.
“It’s all about resources but now we have the children’s hospital we can start to think about fundraising for equipment.”
She has organised a psychic medium fundraising event with Karen Docherty, taking place at Club 83, on St Salvador St Dundee, at 6.30pm on May 11. Email Taysidehearts2gether@icloud.com for tickets which cost £20.
