A Scots woman who was told she might not live past 35 has been given a second chance at life after receiving a heart transplant.
Megan Geddes, from Dalmuir in Clydebank, became so ill due to heart failure that she had to stay in hospital while she urgently waited for a donor. Miraculously, she was able to go home seven weeks later after getting the "the most amazing gift".
The 29-year-old first had a recurring chest infection when she was just 13 and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The unknown condition meant she was referred to London while she spent the next five years undergoing constant tests.
Aged 17 she was fit with a defibrillator and initially was able to carry on with life as normal while her condition was carefully monitored.
However, in 2019, Megan's condition worsened and it was confirmed she was beginning to experience heart failure, leading to her being placed on the transplant list.
Speaking to Glasgow Live, Megan said: "About four years ago it was getting quite bad. The condition was not technically in my heart, but the heart failure first kicked in four years ago. I had lots of fluid retention and my legs were three times their normal size. I was working in the shipping docks and on my feet for 12 hours a day. It was too much, my body couldn't cope, so I had to give up my job.
"At the Jubilee, the assessment showed I was going into heart failure and getting quite bad. I got more tests done and they decide to put me on the non-urgent transplant list."
Megan became unable to manage at home and was taken into hospital last year while she waited for an emergency heart transplant.
She was first informed that a suitable transplant had been made available early in the morning, and by that evening, she had had the surgery.
She said: "I was told early in the morning, maybe about 5.30am, I got taken down to theatre around 12.45pm and then it was a few hours after that I had the surgery.
"I'd already had an offer previously and that fell through, but it didn't really phase me at that point because I'd just come round from the infection. But because I'd had that first offer, for the second I was not getting my hopes up too much.
"I got further through the process the second time. Then the anaesthetist came and spoke to me and said what was happening and it was suddenly more real. I got quite nervous then, it was like adrenaline - butterflies in my stomach and everything.
"The staff made it so comfortable for me. The only time I got properly scared was when I was doing the countdown part, but that wasn't me even going to sleep - the doctor suddenly said 'actually not just yet' and I was joking 'did you just say that?' But thankfully it still went ahead that day."
Megan is approaching a milestone one year since her transplant and looked back on her experience in hospital, crediting the staff for their compassion for making the experience a positive one.
"A lot of people ask me what it was like - you're in hospital, don't want to be, it can be depressing. But I found it quite relaxing, it was honestly because of the staff - they make it so nice for you that it sort of takes your mind off it.
"The only downfall was I got an infection, that was so bad. I was so unwell and it was horrible. It lasted six days and during that process, I was suspended off the list because you can't get transplanted if you have an infection. That was quite hard because I really just wanted to go home. That was my toughest time."
She's also spoken of her gratitude to her donor and their family.
"It's such an amazing feeling for loads of different reasons," she said. "It's amazing how the process happens - that somebody's organs can keep you alive and amazing that people can save each other.
"If they could be aware of the influence they've had on my life, and their family, they should be so so proud that they've been able to help people. If anybody could leave a legacy, I think that's the most amazing gift you could leave. I really hope we can get more donors, as many people to sign up as possible."
Megan is determined to appreciate every moment now and has big dreams for the future. She is due to begin training for a new career as a bus driver and has plans to become a paramedic in the future after her experience.
She said: "I do try to be positive but I'm still the same as everybody. I think now I've had the transplant, I try and push myself as much as I can because I think 'this donor and the family have agreed to save my life'. It would be a waste to sit and be miserable. I try my hardest to push myself and get on with the day to make worthwhile.
"I've got about three A4 sheets of paper of things I want to do. A lot of them are like travelling, being able to go on big walks I wouldn't have been able to do, and going back to work.
"My main one in the next five years, I want to become a paramedic. It was when I was in the hospital, every morning the doctors come around and check on you and sometimes the paramedics come in as well.
"One of the paramedics specifically was someone I had dealt with a few time and it was emotional because there's so many different stages to your condition and they were part of it as well. If I could do that and help other people, and have that compassion and hopefully make a difference to somebody and give back to the NHS it'll never make up for what they did but it's a start."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
