Charlotte Carney's constant need to nap during her teenage years led to her being labelled lazy.
She was also told she could be suffering from stress when she struggled from fatigue as a university student, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
Other symptoms, such as extreme bouts of breathlessness, a racing heart beat and chest pains, meanwhile, were put down to asthma, meaning she used an inhaler for a decade.
It was not until October 2016, however, that Charlotte, from Northwich, was given an explanation for her chronic bouts of tiredness when she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.
The medical experts also told her she only had a 20 per cent chance of living more than two years without a new heart.
Restrictive cardiomyopathy affects 7,000 people in the UK and results in the heart not filling up properly with blood.
Reduced blood flow from the heart can also lead to symptoms of heart failure and, suddenly, Charlotte was living with the reality that she needed a heart transplant to improve her chances of survival beyond her early 20s.
She subsequently went under the knife at Wythenshawe Hospital in March 2018 and, after a 10-hour operation and seven days in a coma, was free to plan for the future and start a new life free of anxiety.
Charlotte, 25, is now looking forward to marrying her long-time partner Ciaran Hughes in Tuscany, Italy this summer.
The football analyst proposed to her in August 2019 in a park on the Northwich housing estate, where they had met five years earlier.
"I said yes immediately," Charlotte recalls of the emotional moment. "He always joked I was fine when we met, but it all went downhill after.
"He’s been through it all with me, and it’s been brilliant, to go from such a dark place to where I am now - getting married to the love of my life. If I’m ever having a rough day, I remind myself I’m doing all right as I’m still here."
Having struggled to even complete five-minute walks to campus while studying forensic psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, a holiday in Barcelona with Ciaran during the summer of 2016 convinced the pair that Charlotte's symptoms needed a deeper analysis.
"I used to nap a lot but, at university, I couldn’t even walk up the hill to go to my classes," she explained. “My heart was beating mega fast and I would be exhausted and out of breath from a five-minute walk.
"Even I started to think I was lazy, as I couldn’t commit to the classes. I had been to the doctors because I got so breathless.
“I had a chest x-ray to check for any infection. But I went on other occasions to say I was exhausted and couldn’t get through a day.
“But I don't think they made the connection and I, too, started to believe I was just stressed about university and that’s why I was tired. When we went to Barcelona in the summer of 2016, it was quite scary as I knew something was wrong.
"I was incredibly out of breath, had chest pains and had to sleep in the middle of the day, then again before dinner. I didn’t live with Ciaran at the time, but he said it wasn’t normal."
She was subsequently diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and left her university studies to move back in with her mum in Northwich.
"It was all a bit hard to navigate at 20," Charlotte admits. "The first time it really hit me that it was bad was when the doctor rang me and told me I had a clot and needed to buy blood thinners from Boots.
"They told me they couldn’t guarantee a good outcome. I would need a life-saving operation, not treatment.
"They set the scene, saying that people had complications from transplants, so even if I had one, life wouldn’t necessarily be great."
An exercise test in August 2017 did not throw up encouraging results either.
Charlotte was asked to run on a treadmill until her heart could take no more and her cardiac output - the rate at which her heart could pump blood out - went down from an already low 63 per cent to 41 per cent.
But, just under four years ago, Charlotte underwent the operation that in all probability saved her life and, on that memory, she added: "You have to wait until someone passes away and know consent has been given for organ donation, then they rush you to hospital.
"They were always going to pass away sadly, though, and this was a silver lining that I got to be saved. I think that’s why donor families agree to it.
"When it did happen, it all happened so fast, which was a good thing because I don’t think we realised just how poorly I was. I went home and I was still in a lot of pain.
"I was walking but I was exhausted and still it felt better. My brain fog was gone.
"Even though I was in a worse state, I felt tons better. I knew I was exhausted from what happened, not from just from existing and I could breathe again.
"I could finally concentrate. Life was so different. It made me realise how hard it was before."
In September 2018, Charlotte also returned to university to complete her degree and subsequently graduated with a 2:1.
It was a day she thought she might never experience during a summer she will never forget, having also got engaged to Ciaran a few weeks later.
"Graduating was a massive achievement, because I wanted to prove that I could do it," she explains. "I was thinking of dropping out of university every three months, so it was amazing.
"It took me four years, but I never had a more exciting day than when I walked on that stage to graduate."
Charlotte has said the support from Cardiomyopathy UK in the past four years has been invaluable, and her best pal Amy Toolis, 25, is now taking on the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for the charity.
You can donate here.
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