AN Ardnacrusha heart patient whose life was saved by a double heart bypass, is urging the government to allocate €1.2 million in annual funding to the Irish Heart Foundation. Pauline O’Shea, (50) recalled the National Stroke and Heart Charity helped her to pick up the pieces after the shocking diagnosis she had the heart of a 70 year-old and a heart function of between 10% and 20% before surgery. The mother-of-three required emergency life-saving intervention to deal with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) when a tear appeared in the wall of a coronary artery, which supplied blood to her heart. When her heart function improved to about 35% following medication and intensive rehabilitation work, Ms O’Shea started volunteering for the Irish Heart Foundation in 2018 before she applied for and was appointed as their Patient Advocacy Campaign Manager since September 2022. Using her marketing and communications experience, she draws on her personal near death experience as a heart failure patient …
Read More »