A red bench has been unveiled in Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor, County Down, as a living tribute to Caoimhe Loughran, a young woman from Newry who lives with a heart condition.
Ms Loughran was 17 when she first experienced symptoms, despite having been fit and healthy throughout her youth, even playing Gaelic football to county standard. She described suffering from exhaustion and a fast heart rate, feeling as though her heart was pounding through her chest. She later experienced numerous collapses and was diagnosed with an electrical conduction disorder causing her heart rate to go dangerously slow. She was fitted with an implantable loop recorder, which detected pauses in her heart rhythm, and at the age of 20 received a pacemaker.
Ms Loughran said the bench means a lot to her as a reminder of how precious life is. She wants to share her story to help others, describing a long battle trying to get heard. She said she felt dismissed as a woman, with symptoms blamed on her menstrual cycle or the pill, and was told on numerous occasions that she had anxiety.
Recalling the worst period in September 2022, she said she collapsed at work during the first week of her placement year, breaking her glasses and chipping a tooth. Two months later, after episodes in her sleep, she had a pacemaker implanted. She explained that she had heart block, with pauses in her heartbeat lasting up to 20 seconds, and was told that without intervention she might not wake up.
Ms Loughran said she initially struggled with the diagnosis, feeling alone and fearful about her future and having children. Since having the pacemaker fitted, her life has improved considerably and she is no longer on medication. She now has a device at her bedside that sends data to her medical team, and receives regular check-in calls. She added: "Right now, it's just me and my pacemaker and I'm really happy with that."
