A YOUNG Glasgow woman with a heart condition is to host a ceilidh in the city for funds to help fight cardiomyopathy.
A YOUNG Glasgow woman with a heart condition is to host a ceilidh in the city for funds to help fight cardiomyopathy.
Nurse Mhairi Morrison, 23, of Dumbarton Road, is to run the event at Hampden to raise cash for the Cardiomyopathy Association charity that provides information and support to affected people.
Mhairi has arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, or ARVC, a disease that causes fat and scar tissue to develop in the heart muscle. This can interrupt the heart's normal rhythm and affect its pumping power.
When Mhairi was first diagnosed three years ago, her heart's pumping power was less than a quarter that of a normal heart.
After starting on medication, she was referred to specialists at a London hospital. Doctors there diagnosed ARVC and, because they feared she was at risk of dying suddenly from the condition, she was given an internal defibrillator.
The device shocks her heart back into a normal rhythm if needed.
Her condition has since improved, allowing her to finish her university course and start work as a nurse in the high dependency unit at Gartnavel Hospital.
She now plans a long-awaited holiday in Australia.
Mhairi said: "Through the Cardiomyopathy Association I soon realised that I didn't have a death sentence and I would see my 30th birthday and beyond.
"Thanks to the charity's message board I am now good friends with other people who have the condition.
"I don't know what I would have done without them.
"One guy in particular was amazing when I was in hospital and I wouldn't have met him if not for the CMA. So the charity is a very worthy cause."
The event, being held at the National Stadium on September 12 will feature Chitterybite, a band known for its eclectic mix of ceilidh and contemporary music.
Tickets, which include a buffet, cost £20 each. For more information about the ceilidh, e-mail Mhairi at vaz986@aol.com or for tickets go to Tickets Scotland in the city's Argyle Street call 0870 220 1116 or see www.tickets-scotland.com
Cardiomyopathy affects people of all ages, including babies, and is usually inherited. It affects around one in 500 people and is the main cause of sudden death in the under-35s. But when diagnosed and properly treated most of those affected can lead a long and full life.
As well as providing information and support to families, the Cardiomyopathy Association funds medical care and campaigns for more heart checks and genetic testing to find those at risk and to save lives.
