What a difference a heart transplant can make.

My name is William (Bill) Noble and I was born on the 27th February, 1947 the youngest of four children: I had two older brothers and a sister. My family were farmers in Cumbria and I went to junior & secondary school in Carlisle.

I was a competitive swimmer from the age of eight eventually competing at national level. I represented English Schools, the ASA and the British Police. Unfortunately, owing to occasional erratic performances I missed out on the opportunity to gain a place on the swimming team for the 1964 Olympics. The reason for these erratic performances only became obvious when my congenital heart condition was finally diagnosed in 1976 as Right Ventricular Tachycardia and later in 2006 as Arrhymogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia.

I joined Lancashire Constabulary in 1964 as a Police Cadet and went on to join the regular force in 1966. I spent most of my service in CID eventually retiring (owing to ill health) in 1998. At that time I was a Detective Superintendent in Greater Manchester Police. In 1973 I was awarded a Home Office University Scholarship. I studied politics and philosophy at Lancaster University obtaining a BA (Hons) degree.

The first serious incident happened at the age of twenty when my heart stopped when I was in the water in a race. That would have been the end, but for the fact that all my team mates were experienced competition lifesavers and first aiders who immediately diagnosed the problem, got me out of the water and restarted my heart. Not that anyone recognised the underlying congenital problem at that time this episode being diagnosed as exhaustion caused through over training!

Over the following years when I had periods of feeling disorientated and generally unwell I just accepted them as nothing more than part of the body’s reaction to high levels of physical activity. In 1976 at the age of twenty nine whilst playing squash the lights went out again. It is not certain if my heart stopped, but the possibility is that it did, however apparently I hit the floor so hard onto my face and chest that the impact would have restarted it. This time, after being stitched up in A & E and returning to see my GP I was hospitalised and put through a whole barrage of tests at the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Hammersmith Hospital London.

From 1976 onwards I was treated with various combinations of drugs until they no longer worked. In 1994 I was fitted with an implanted cardiac defibrillator. The defibrillator was replaced 5 times with increasingly sophisticated machines. In October 2006, the combination of drugs and defibrillator was no longer any use and I was almost constantly in hospital. Over the intervening years my heart had either gone into dangerous rhythms or stopped. There were times when my heart stopped whilst in hospital and could only be restarted by lengthy manual compression.

I was transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital Manchester for transplant assessment. I was placed on the Transplant List in January 2007 and received a new heart at Wythenshawe on the 17th April, 2007. I had only waited three months. Not a long time to wait, but when I saw the consultant five days previous I only had days to live.

It has transformed my life and that of my family beyond anything previous. I was given my driving licence back; oxygen cylinders do not have to be carried about; there is no need for someone to be with me twenty four hours a day; I am not waiting for that shock every time I feel a bit disorientated; the cold sweats at the prospect of doing some task that will possibly cause an arrhythmia attack or constantly gasping for breath.

It was a hard slog getting over the operation as I had been ill for so long and my body had deteriorated from the drugs and inactivity. It was also a hard mental fight to overcome the feeling that doing something physical would bring back the old problem! That is where my previous background in swimming and the encouragement from my hospital to join in the transplant sports programme helped.

I went through a long rehabilitation programme and as I started to gain more confidence I was eager to gain increased fitness, but it took two years to rebuild my body. At this point I was encouraged to consider representing Wythenshawe Hospital in the British Transplant Games and was keen to do so as the old competitive spirit started to take hold. I competed in three events in the swimming at The 2009 Games in Coventry, winning 2 gold and 1 silver medal.

I continued training and started competing in open masters swimming competitions with some success, but disaster struck in November 2009 when I tore my right rotator cuff muscle and snapped my bicep tendon whilst in a race! With treatment and rehabilitation this took a year to heal which meant that I had to miss the 2010 British Transplant Games in Bath. However, I did attend the games to support the rest of the team.

Bill celebrating his transplant games success in Sweden 2011.

I was fortunate to be nominated to represent the United Kingdom at the 2011 World Transplant Games in Sweden from my times from the 2009 Games. I attended the Games and they were brilliant. I competed in 5 swimming events and won five gold medals and set four world records. Meeting other transplantees, their families, living donors and donor families provided a very powerful reminder to all athletes that individual success, whilst important, was secondary to the greater purpose and that was the simple act of taking part in order to raise awareness of the need for people to register as donors.

My advice to others, who have to overcome illness or injury, or just want to improve their lifestyle, is that there is no better route than through sport and/or exercise. It does not have to be at the level at which I train or perform competitively; everyone should find their own level. As I well know taking the first step is the hardest, but if you don’t take that step you will never go anywhere!

Remember:

If you think you can’t do it - You Won’t

If you think you can’t win – You are already beaten

You may not come first, but – You can still win!

Bill Noble July 2011