A super fit man who regularly takes
part in triathlons has miraculously survived after contracting a
heart-attacking virus on his honeymoon and dying six times.
Andrew
Britton is now waiting for a heart transplant after spending nine
months in three different hospitals and suffering cardiac failure six
times.
The 33-year-old, who enjoys running and playing squash, collapsed hours after arriving in the Maldives for his honeymoon.
Andrew Britton (right) developed myocarditis
shortly after marrying his wife Lauren (left). He was on his honeymoon
in the Maldives when his condition rapidly deteriorated. He is now
waiting for a heart transplant after spending nine months in three
different hospitals
Just five days after
his dream wedding to wife Lauren he had been transferred to a larger
hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was put on a life support
machine.
'I finally came
round in the hospital in Bangkok and was so confused I thought I had
been on the end of some sort of practical joke,' said Andrew, from
Denham in Buckinghamshire.
'They had fitted a temporary balloon inside me to help my heart pump and I was on life support.
'I pointed for pen and paper and
wrote "Did I die?".I later learnt I had five cardiac failures in the
Maldives and I had a sixth a few days later.'
Andrew married Lauren on November 25 last year and had the perfect wedding.
He
had always had a passion for fitness, playing squash from a young age,
and had just returned from a triathlon training camp in the Algarve.
Island doctors told Andrew they had 24 hours to
get him to a specialist heart hospital in Bangkok (pictured there during
his recovery) or he would die. He was flown there on an emergency
medical jet and remained on life support for two weeks and in the
hospital for a total of six weeks.
After the wedding they
boarded the plane for their honeymoon on the Kandooma Island in The
Maldives, but on the flight he started to feel ill with flu-like
symptoms.
I thought I was just tired and hungover after the wedding and had perhaps eaten some bad plane food,' he said.They went by speed boat to Kandooma Island, but he gradually deteriorated and was so sick he quickly became confined to his bed.
The couple called the island doctor out and Andrew was put on a drip in his hut as he couldn’t keep any liquids down.
'I felt so ill I couldn’t get out of bed and I was really sick and sweating,' he said.
'The
next day I work up in the middle of the night and could hardly breathe.
I thought it must be a bug so we got the boat back to the mainland to
get checked at the hospital.'
He
was put on a heart rate monitor, which showed 200 beats a minute. He
was sedated and given defibrillation shocks to force his heart back to a
normal rhythm.
Doctors did not yet realise it, but Andrew had developed myocarditis, a viral infection that leads to inflammation and damage to the heart.
The
majority of cases clear up within a week, but sometimes the
inflammation in the heart lasts longer and cause serious,
life-threatening problems.
Andrew
said: 'Lauren was really scared and had to sort out everything. At one
point the doctors had to resuscitate me but our medical insurance hadn’t
kicked in and our credit cards were maxed out.
'Lauren
had been given a security escort from the hotel and he saw the
situation was so serious that he gave the hospital the deeds to his
house as security against my treatment.'
Lauren said it was 'absolutely terrifying' because Andrew went downhill so quickly.
'It
all happened completely out of the blue and was absolutely terrifying,'
she said. 'I was a complete wreck and felt quite hysterical. I was on
the phone to family and friends back at home most of the time, who
really kept me going.'
The doctors told Andrew they had 24 hours to get him to a specialist heart hospital in Bangkok or he would die.
He was flown there on an emergency
medical jet and remained on life support for two weeks and in the
hospital for a total of six weeks.
Andrew’s
other organs started failing as the doctors worked out which drugs to
put him on and they drained 11 litres of fluid from his body when his
kidneys stopped working.
Eventually he was stable enough to get another medical flight home and was taken to Harefield Hospital in London.
They
fitted a Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Defibrillator device to help
pace his heart and within 48 hours he felt much better.
'I was eventually able to leave the
hospital and I was at home for seven weeks, but I suddenly collapsed at
Tesco and was taken back to hospital,' he said.
This
time Andrew had eight hours of open heart surgery and was fitted with a
left ventricular device, pumps blood through the heart.
He is now stable and in hospital, awaiting a heart transplant.
'I was told I had picked up a virus which attacked my heart and caused it to inflame, which is incredibly rare,' he said.
'Despite
all that has happened I count myself lucky. I have an amazing family,
met people who show the world is full of people that care for strangers
and learned that you should never live in fear.
Andrew (pictured shortly after his operation to
fit a defibrillator) is now waiting for a heart transplant. He will have
to live in hospital until he receives a new heart. Lauren visits him
every day after work and the couple have dinner together
'I still have one final
hurdle to go in getting the transplant, but I’m ready for it and know
that everyone around me is there to get me back to how I was before.
'My
goals when I get back to full health are to win the world championship
in squash in the transplant games and to simplify my life.'
Lauren visits Andrew every day after work and the couple have dinner together.
'We have managed to get into a bit of a routine now but it’s a rather odd existence,' she said.
'I’ll take him dinner and we try and eat together and spend the evening
chatting, but it is hard to keep Andrew positive as it’s very boring in
hospital for him.'
The couple are now urging people to register as organ donors to help people like Andrew.
'I wasn’t registered as it wasn’t something I had ever really considered,' said Lauren. 'It is also important to let your family know if you have registered your organs.'
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