Brave Robyn Cairney has endured having heart valves from a pig, a cow and a person transplanted into her as she fights her way back to health.
The 31-year-old was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in June 2009, when she was just 18.
She had four hours of open-heart surgery at Golden Jubilee Hospital, in Clydebank, near Glasgow.
Surgeons replaced her narrowing aortic valve with a pig’s.
But just a few years after that, the pig valve began to fail and the aortic valve narrowed again.
In the summer of 2014, five years after the first operation, Robyn underwent her second open-heart surgery.
This time the pig valve was removed and replaced with a cow’s.
Eight weeks later Robyn went back to Teesside University to complete her final year of studies in sports therapy. She became a further education studies teacher, specialising in human anatomy.
She did the Great North Run in 2019 to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation, and again in 2021.
But not long after that, during an annual check up in October 2021, an echocardiogram showed changes to the heart valve. Robyn was referred to undergo further tests.
After scans, doctors warned that it was likely that the valve would be need to be replaced sooner rather than later. In the months that followed, Robyn noticed that she was feeling more breathless than usual.
On May 29 this year, Robyn and her partner, Simon, suffered a horrible shock at home in Middlesbrough.
She said: “I remember sitting on the sofa chatting to friends when suddenly I collapsed and blacked out.”
Simon had to do CPR as friends called an ambulance.
The ambulance came within five minutes and by then Robyn had regained consciousness. She was raced to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
Robyn said: “I can remember being in the ambulance with Simon and feeling confused and very distressed.
“I couldn’t quite believe what had happened. It all felt like a bad dream. After waiting in A&E for 16 hours, I was admitted to the cardiac monitoring ward.”
A couple of days after she was admitted, doctors explained that the cow valve was not opening properly.
Her blood pressure was very low, which is what had caused her to collapse.
Doctors told Robyn that due to the complexity of her condition, she needed to be transferred to a cardiac unit in Newcastle.
Robyn said: “Nine days later, on the eighth of June this year, I was transferred in an ambulance to The Freeman Hospital where I had open-heart surgery to perform a complex procedure – called the Ross Procedure – which took 10 hours.”
Surgeons had to break her sternum to remove the failed bovine valve.
Her own pulmonary valve was moved into its place, then a donor heart valve from a stranger replaced the removed pulmonary valve.
“I’ve got two heart valves replaced now,” said Robyn. “One using one of mine, and another from a stranger, which I’m extremely grateful for.
“The pulmonary valve takes less pressure so it responds better with having a human donor valve.
“Whereas the aortic valve takes a lot of pressure so it responds better to using my own tissue.
“When I woke up after the operation, I was confused and sore. I had a big scar down my chest and lots of dissolvable stitches.”
Robyn came home on June 15 and is slowly recovering.
She said: “I’m looking forward to 2023 and hoping for a much healthier and less stressful year ahead.
“I feel grateful to be here and for all the family and friends who have supported me through it all, visiting me in hospital and at home.”
Robyn has signed up for The Great North Run in September, taking on the half-marathon to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
She said: “I’m gradually getting back into running and am doing a running/walking combination to get my fitness up. I have already come a long way from where I was before the operation earlier this year, when I couldn’t walk even half a mile.”
Robyn said. “Doctors have said that the new valve should last approximately 15 years and will be strong enough for me to carry children if I want to start a family one day. I’m taking one step at a time but I’m forever grateful for the stranger who donated their heart valve to me.
“Thanks to them I’ll hopefully be able to live a normal healthy life.
“I am now looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my partner and family.”
- See bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events for more information.
