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JESS Davenport-Lee's heart could stop beating at any moment.
The 24-year-old Auckland is largely homebound these days, taking a defibrillator with her every time she manages to go out and must have a person trained in CPR with her in all the time.
According to the New Zealand Herald her only hope of a normal life is a heart and liver transplant that she has been waiting for 14 months.
This is a surgical procedure performed only twice in New Zealand since 2011 and Ms. Davenport-Lee believes that it will be the first performed in someone whose heart she's completely "replumed" as she did.
Ms. Davenport-Lee was born with six cardiac conditions: a left ventricle with a double entry, a hypoplastic right ventricle, an atrial septum, a ventricular septum, a transposition of the large arteries and leaking valves.
In short, she had only one half of her heart to which the main arteries were connected as well as a number of holes in the walls between the chambers.
Jessica Davenport-Lee had many She was diagnosed at three days, underwent her first heart surgery at five months, her second just before she was three years old and the next when she was operated on . six years.
She was a normal and healthy girl for the next 10 years but "everything rocked" when she reacted badly to surgery to repair her aorta and needed a pacemaker implanted at age 18 .
The next four years were difficult and in 2016 she needed more heart surgery – a last ditch effort before resorting to a transplant.
It was then that they discovered that she was also suffering from a serious liver disease, a side effect of one of the cardiac surgeries, and it was says that she would need a double transplant.
After that, she and her partner Troy Lee Fesola & # 39; i launched a call for help to arrange a wedding together before the transplant.
The community has come together and donated money and services to give them a day that they will never forget.
In April of last year, a month after the wedding, Ms. Davenport-Lee was accepted on the transplant list and has been waiting patiently ever since.
But things have become more difficult in the meantime.
Jessica Davenport-Lee after one of her Cardiac Operations Image: Provided
She is on the brink of liver failure and has episodes of ventricular tachycardia where her heart beats too fast , which usually happens before the heart is in cardiac arrest but until now Ms. Davenport-Lee was lucky.
That's why she must always have a defibrillator with her and can not be left alone. Her family now has a list of who will watch her.
Ms. Davenport-Lee can feel her heart weaken – she can barely get to the mailbox or dress up and put on makeup without getting tired and out of breath.
"I can not do anything other than wait for my transplant appeal," she said.
It is exceptionally rare to have a double transplant, let alone with such major organs.
A spokesman for the Auckland Regional Health Council said the average wait time for a single heart transplant was about nine months and three to six months for a liver but it could be a lot longer for a double organ donation.
Jessica Davenport-Lee Can not Make Photo:
Ms. Davenport-Lee has remained remarkably positive nonetheless, but admits mixed feelings about the transplant.
"It's really sad [that someone has to die] and it hurts so much but I know, the person who dies, I did not cause their death."
While she's stuck at home, she documents her highs and lows on Facebook for her 3,500 followers.
"I document everything on my heart page not only for donor awareness, but also for heart disease awareness because it's like an invisible disease.
"We do not look sick, we can wear makeup and we look quite good, no one knows that I have a heart defibrillator in my bag handbag or purse full of pills.
Meanwhile, friends created a Givealittle page to help Ms. Davenport-Lee's sister and her four nephews and nieces come to Australia before her transplant.
This article originally appeared on the New Zealand Herald and has been republished with permission.
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