Heart transplant survivor to triathlete
Petra Brosch was in cardiac arrest and suffering irreparable heart failure when she was brought to The Alfred’s Emergency and Trauma Centre in May 2018.
The perfectly healthy 35-year-old had collapsed while on a run at Elwood beach during training for the Melbourne Half-Marathon. Bystanders had aided her there, but her next set of trials were just beginning.
Petra had a heart defect that had gone undetected since birth.
“My right coronary artery was misplaced, so it was actually growing out of the left coronary artery. It was pretty much a time bomb in my chest,” explains Petra.
Intensivist Dr Li Tan decided within minutes of her arrival to put her on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine in order to keep her alive.
Numerous medical interventions were needed to help her live through the night, but her heart was severely damaged and could no longer work on its own.
Put in a medically induced coma for four weeks and remaining in intensive care for two months, Petra’s next step was to build up her strength in order to be eligible for a heart transplant.
She’d lost all muscle mass and couldn’t lift her head or brush her teeth. She had to learn how to talk, swallow and walk again.
In an extremely specialised procedure, her heart was connected to a mechanical pump on the outside of her chest, so that she was able to stand and slowly start walking.
After months of recovery, Petra was able to have her heart transplant.
In a procedure lasting five hours, the heart-lung bypass machine was crucial, enabling Petra’s old heart to be removed and a new donor heart implanted.
She is now surfing again and successfully completed her first mini triathlon earlier this year.
