The tumour had grown to the size of a fist. There was no way they could salvage my heart
Last year, aged 23, I was diagnosed with cancer of the heart. It’s extremely rare – doctors often tell me it’s the first case of heart cancer they’ve seen. The only way to save my life was to remove my heart. It was replaced with a total artificial heart (TAH), which is made of biocompatible plastic and acts as a pump.
Before I became ill, I was a typical busy student, having started my master’s at Oxford. I didn’t smoke or drink, and would do high-intensity interval training at the gym and cycle for at least an hour a day. I began to feel tired and headachy. I assumed I had freshers’ flu and went to see a GP, who said I looked “waxy”. He asked me to do a stool and urine sample and come back the following day. My energy was at rock bottom, so I called my parents. I just wanted to go home. I thought it was a virus.
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