Hannah Dalton raises over £2,500 for British Heart Foundation after life-saving surgery

Teenager, Hannah Dalton, was rushed to hospital with a serious heart and lung condition, next she is tackling the 2.6 challenge as part of her rehabilitation. Her bravery is inspiring, and her motivation is astounding as she tells the story of her recovery.

Pneumonia inflates the lungs, often caused by a bacterial infection, making it difficult to breathe. This is the condition Hannah found herself having, she had often felt out of breath, especially when walking uphill, but unfortunately, this reached its peak on a school trip to Italy. Whilst in Italy, Hannah was rushed to hospital where the doctors said she had bronchitis. Once back in England, this developed to pneumonia, but after taking antibiotics, she was still unable to breath properly.

At the end of February this year Hannah had a bronchoscopy to help understand what the problem was. Feeling ill a few days after this, she says she put it down to all the cameras she had put down her throat, however, her mother became increasingly worried and phoned 111. Hannah had pneumonia again as well as lung sepsis, she was taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford where after a few days on a normal ward, she was taken to intensive care. Whilst in intensive care, the doctors told her parents they wanted to give her five antibiotics. However, this was going to be a risk. Hannah said,

“my parents were told there was a fine line between poisoning me and making me better.” At this point, they were still unsure why she was unable to breath; Hannah explained,

“they performed an ultrasound on my heart. The ultrasound, called an echo, showed that the mitral valve (between the left ventricle and left atrium) was stiff and tight meaning my heart was unable to pump blood to my lungs properly.”

Hannah wrote on a recent Facebook post to family and friends that the pressure on the mitral valve for a healthy person is 0-3 with 10 being concerning, Hannah’s valve was at 30.

Hannah was told the only place she could be tested and treated was at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. This was yet again a worry for her parents as the doctors were worried about moving her due to fear of her dying in the ambulance. Hannah spent one month at St Thomas’ Hospital during the peak time when the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding. She says she watched the situation worsen as she was sitting in a hospital bed, at a hospital which was being used as a coronavirus treatment centre. At the end of March, Hannah underwent life-saving surgery to have the valve opened.

Towards the end of March, the coronavirus was at its highest peak in the UK with figures now displaying almost 1,000 people dying every day from the disease, including people from care homes.

After the surgery, Hannah was still at risk as she became unwell with a temperature and was soon swabbed for coronavirus. Devastatingly, the test came back positive and Hannah had contracted coronavirus whilst being treated in hospital. She added,

“I only had the temperature for one day, it was crazy!”

Thankfully, Hannah has since recovered from this.

When asked what they found the problem to be, she explained,

“The mitral stenosis (which was what was blocking the blood from flowing from her left ventricle to her left atrium), was caused by rheumatic fever I had when I was eight, when I had tonsillitis a lot, but didn’t know I’d had rheumatic fever until I was in London.”

The doctors explained to her that, it was rare people in the UK had this as the availability of health care means that people can take antibiotics whenever they need it; this was more common in poor countries like Africa as they can’t afford to treat infections with antibiotics.

Hannah has been through so much in the space of the year but has been determined to get back onto her feet. So much so, she took part in a 2.6 challenge where she walked 2.6 miles for ten days to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. On her Facebook post, she wrote,

“I am grateful to all the doctors, nurses and surgeons at both William Harvey and St Thomas’ Hospital for saving my life and it was only possible due to advancements in cardiology and further funding. Therefore, I have signed up to do the 2.6 challenge for the British Heart Foundation.”

Hannah has since completed the challenge, walking 2.6 miles less than two months after her surgery and, so far, has raised and impressive £2,514 for the charity.