When Duncan MacAuley started to feel an ache in his chest as he jogged around Strathclyde Park, he dismissed it as indigestion and continued his run.
Weeks later he discovered the pain had been a heart attack and was told he needed a new heart. Two years on, Duncan remains on the heart transplant list.
He has been diagnosed with heart failure and says he owes his life to medical research that is helping to keep him alive.
Duncan, 54, of Inverness, said: “To be told I’d had a heart attack and I needed a heart transplant was a real shock.
“When I was running and started to feel chest pain, initially I thought nothing of it.
“I thought it was indigestion and expected to be able to run through it.
“I couldn’t believe how poor my running performance was that day – but I remember thinking surely it would be
better tomorrow.”
Instead of feeling better the next day, Duncan felt increasingly breathless and lacking in energy.
Convinced he would start to feel more like himself soon, it was four weeks before he went to his doctor.
He was admitted first to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, then transferred to the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow.
Duncan, a manager for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It was when I was at the Golden Jubilee I was told I’d had a heart attack and I kept thinking, ‘Surely not.’
“I’ve undertaken many first aid courses which describe a heart attack and my experience was very different.”
Keen runner Duncan was told it was likely a virus had caused damage to his heart.
He was warned he was suffering from heart failure – where the heart doesn’t pump blood around the body as well as it should.
He said: “Heart failure is not a great term but it’s accurate. You automatically fear the worst.
“My father died aged 56 with angina. I was determined this wouldn’t happen to me so had kept as fit as possible to try to avoid anything similar.
“Suddenly I was being considered for an emergency heart transplant and I really was thinking, ‘Have they got the right person?’”
Duncan, who is married to Carol, 52, and is a dad to sons Michael, 23, and Craig, 20, was put on life-saving medication that is helping keep his condition stable.
He has also been fitted with a pacemaker and an internal defibrillator, which shocks his heart back into a normal rhythm if his heart rate becomes too fast or dangerously slow.
While Duncan remains on the heart transplant list, the operation is now no longer considered as needing to urgently take place.
Carol said: “What’s happened to Duncan has been a huge shock to all the family. When he initially went into hospital for tests, we thought he would be getting back home that day but ended up staying in hospital for the next seven weeks.
“He’s gone from being someone who was a keen runner and enjoyed long walks to someone who gets so tired so easily and needs to have a nap in the afternoon to help him get through the day.”
Duncan added: “My advice to anyone else newly diagnosed with heart failure is to be as patient as possible as it’s a massive lifestyle change and sadly there is no magic fix. But there is always hope.”
Duncan and Carol are now doing all they can to raise awareness of heart failure.
Warning signs of the incurable condition include shortness of breath when you exert yourself or lie down, fatigue and weakness, and swelling caused by fluid build-up in your feet, ankles, stomach and lower back.
The MacAuley family have been raising money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has been funding life-saving research for 60 years. James Jopling, head of BHF Scotland, said: “Heart failure is a devastating condition, for which there is currently no cure.
“BHF have helped pioneer new drugs that are used around the world to treat symptoms and improve quality of life.
“The BHF has been one of the driving forces behind heart transplantation since the mid-60s.
“We have also funded research into ways to repair or regrow damaged heart tissue.
“But we want to find a cure for heart failure to help people like Duncan – that is why research is so important.”
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