Niall (31) from Co Clare was diagnosed with right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) last September and was subsequently fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).
"What happened to me is probably genetic - my dad died at 57. I was exercising, I used to be a competitive swimmer, I would be athletic and into fitness. After swimming, I went into VT [ventricular tachycardia - abnormally high heart beat]. I was getting faint and I got sick six or seven times in a few hours. I thought it was food poisoning. My wife got me home. We were just lucky we got to the hospital and that it was just a short distance away. Within a minute there were six or seven doctors around me. My heartbeat had gone up to 197 beats per minute [bpm].
"My normal, resting heartbeat would be around 55 bpm because I was so fit. The only reason I'm here is because I'm fit. A lot of people might not have been able to handle it. The doctors and nurses were brilliant. I had immediate attention and I needed a shock to the heart from a defibrillator like you see on ER. They worked on me so quickly and they knocked me out for the shock.
"Immediately after that, they put me on a heart monitor and gave me a beta blocker to reduce my heart rate, which I'll be on for the rest of my life. I went to Limerick for an angiogram and further tests. Then I went up to the Mater Private to do blood tests. There was a study of my electrical pulses [EP] and an MRI and I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
"I don't mind the ICD - I see it as my insurance policy even though I might never need to call on it. I get monitored every three months and it graphs what my heart rate is doing. It's about the same size as one of those small round Vaseline tins you see around. It hasn't stopped me doing anything. I'm back swimming and I can play golf but I wouldn't play contact sports.
"It took four or five months to get used to the drugs it's put into a pouch in the skin like opening a pocket of a shirt. All my family got checked out with the echo, which would show up cardiomyopathy. Out of six of us, only one will have to go for further tests."
Niall and his wife have coped well since his operation and the news that he has cardiomyopathy. "We are relieved and relaxing and getting on with our lives. From my point of view, I thank God I have my life-saving device."
An ICD - the vital equipment: The device, containing a pulse generator, is implanted surgically just below the collar bone. A wire is passed to the heart through a vein and takes signals to the device, which monitors the number of heartbeats per minute. If the organ goes into any unusual rhythms, i.e. ventricular tachycardia (when the heart beats too fast) or ventricular fibrillation (when it beats extremely fast and irregularly and stops pumping blood to the brain and body), the device kicks in and delivers a shock to right the heartbeat.
When the heart goes into ventricular fibrillation, treatment must be given within five to 10 minutes or the patient will die.
Famous owners of ICD devices include the US vice-president, Dick Cheney (left), and the Bolton Wanderers midfielder and Senegalese footballer Khalilou Fadiga.
Around 200 such implants were carried out at the Mater Hospital in Dublin last year and there were between 300 and 400 done nationally. Ranging from the simplest model to the most complex, the devices cost €€10,000 to €24,000.