Alison's Story

Alison Gray was perilously close to dying in her early thirties, when she and her new husband should have been joyously mapping out their future together.

Alison cheated death again 15 years later when the defibrillator she had lived with for many years - after being told her heart was ‘like a ticking time bomb ready to go off’ - fired several times in a matter of hours during an agonising and life-threating bout of arrhythmia.

Such trauma, owing from a string of severe cardiac failings, fostered a colossal level of resilience and strength within the now 52-year-old.

Yet, not even one so brave and determined as Alison could scarcely cope with being told, just days after her defib had repeatedly fired, that she had become too ill to receive a life-saving heart transplant.

“I really struggled with that news,” said Alison, who lives in Fife with her husband Paul. “I honestly thought I was going to die in hospital. I thought ‘I don’t have a chance’.

“Paul was on his way to pick me up from hospital. I went from being told I could leave hospital, to not going home, to going on the transplant waiting list, to not going on the list; all in the space of a few days.

“I was told I was too ill to undergo a transplant. That really was devastating to hear and news that was quite hard to accept.”

As a last resort, medics fitted Alison with a balloon pump to boost the flow of blood through her body. Two days later, after her condition had stabilised, Alison was deemed well enough to receive a transplant and was added to the waiting list.

“It was all a bit of a blur,” Alison added. “I was still trying to process not being able to go home and the types of things you think about when you’re at your lowest.

“The things you’ve not done in life, not being able to see my dog again. All these things were running through my mind so I wasn’t expecting them to say they were going to put me on the list.”

The very next day – Sunday, February 20, 2022 – medics told Alison they had found a perfect match and she immediately underwent surgery. This was, perhaps, the only chapter of good fortune in Alison’s harrowing story, given that the waiting list for organ donation in the UK now stands at a record high of more than 8,000 people.

Also miraculous was the speed of Alison’s recovery post-transplant. “I kept asking the doctors if I’d even had the transplant because I felt so well and was in no pain,” she said.

Within two days she was able to leave her bed and by the time three weeks had elapsed she was convalescing back at home.

“It all felt a bit surreal,” she said, “almost like I’d had a bad dream for a couple of weeks.”

In reality, Alison’s nightmare medical journey extended far beyond the period that led her to receive a new heart.

Her ill health actually began in 2006 when symptoms of fatigue and nausea developed into a chronic lack of appetite and severe weight loss. A keen swimmer and a dedicated business owner who loved her active lifestyle, Alison was suddenly unable to walk any distance.

She would struggle to string together coherent sentences and, even more worryingly, found it difficult to catch her breath when sleeping.

“I was 32 at the time and had not long got married to Paul,” Alison said. “We'd gone from thinking we were maybe going to start a family to thoughts that I could possibly die. It was all a lot to take in.”

Only when Alison’s hereditary links to heart disease came to light – after doctors became aware that her brother had undergone a heart transplant aged 17 – did the medical approach change and an X-ray was expedited.

Tests showed an enlarged heart and Alison was quickly enrolled onto a course of medication that was accompanied by the fitting of a defibrillator and fortnightly visits to Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline, along with regular check ups at NHS Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, Scotland’s only heart transplant centre.

After a period of stability, Alison’s health regressed and late in 2008 her defibrillator was upgraded to a dual device with a built-in pacemaker able to regulate her heartbeat, and restart her heart if a major episode ever occurred.

Only once did this happen, in 2016 when the defibrillator fired while Alison was momentarily unconscious, during a period of stability that led her and her consultants to believe there was no longer a serious risk.

Alison resumed her active lifestyle, returning to the pursuits she loved such as skiing, bowls and golf.

“I really surprised the consultants,” she said. “They kept checking my records with my date of birth and ID to make sure there hadn’t been a mix up because they didn’t expect me to be able to do things I was able to do. I led a very normal life for quite a long time.”

Devastatingly, Alison was not out of the woods. After contracting Covid in 2021, her health spiralled once again, which eventually led to her life-saving heart transplant. Thankfully, the situation is now very different for Alison who is enjoying a new lease of life with her second heart.

As much as Alison looks forward with boundless positivity, barely a day passes when she does not reflect on her journey and the deep gratitude she feels towards her deceased donor, and their heartbroken family, for supporting organ donation and for saving her life.

Alison is arguably more active than ever before and has participated in several editions of the Westfield Health British Transplant Games, winning medals in a host of different sports.

The Games see around 2,500 people, including more than 1,000 transplant recipients, living donors and their families, participate in a multitude of different sports.

The event is now in its 48th year, and is the flagship event of the Transplant Active campaign that promotes active recovery for transplant recipients and increases awareness of the benefits of organ donation.

Not only is Alison targeting further medal success in golf and crown green bowls, she’ll be leading a new NHS Golden Jubilee team at this year’s Games, which take place in Sheffield from August 6 to 9.

Alison and her three NHS Golden Jubilee teammates - Fraser Wilson, Allan Gilmore and Stephen Hendren - are all heart transplant recipients. It’s an exclusive club, but one Alison and the team are keen to expand in due course.

A peer support group she set up for people who have undergone heart transplants at NHS Golden Jubilee Hospital now has 25 members. Two have expressed an interest in attending the Games in Sheffield with a view to potentially participating in future events.

“We going to start as a small team, but in time we’d like to grow,” Alison said. “The Games are truly unique, not just for recipients, but also donors, their families and anyone else impacted by organ donation. Because you’re all part of one community you’re even supporting you’re rivals.

“That’s not something you would usually do in sport, but we’re not a normal set up. We’re all there celebrating organ donation and, for so many, a second chance of life. It’s such a special community we’re involved in.

“It’s not about winning medals and being super competitive. It’s about being there and supporting each other, enjoying each other’s company and showing what fun we can have – and how active we can be - with our second chance of life.”