A 39-year-old father who suffered a heart attack while playing football has told of how he was later given just two years to live. Ellis Dawson, from Mow Cop, Cheshire, began to feel "funny" during a game - a symptom that eventually led to him being told by doctors he had just two years left to live.
The "fit and healthy" dad-of-two underwent a heart transplant in February this year after a severe blockage in an artery known as the "widow-maker". Just months after his transplant at Wythenshawe Hospital, Ellis says he is feeling "incredibly positive" about the future.
He said: "It is impossible to express the depth of gratitude I feel towards my donor's family for giving me the ultimate gift: the chance to watch my two little girls grow up. Every day is a bonus when you have had a heart transplant."
Ellis started to feel 'funny'
Ellis was playing a football match in January 2025 when he began to feel "funny". He initially thought he might be able to carry on and wait for the feeling to "clear up", but instead began to feel worse, suffering symptoms he thought were due to a panic attack.
Ellis said: "I walked back to my car and it became clear I was in no fit state to drive. My chest was hurting and my left arm ached a lot, so I called my dad to pick me up. When I got home I spoke to my wife about it, in my head I knew they were heart attack symptoms but I always imagined a heart attack to feel like a much more serious emergency situation.
"I then started being sick and thought it was a panic attack so used calming breathing techniques and fell asleep on the floor. My wife found me and after reading up on the symptoms, feared I would be dead in the morning."
She called 111 who said he needed an ambulance. He went to A&E at Royal Stoke University Hospital where he had an ECG, which confirmed he was having a heart attack. Ellis needed two stents to be inserted into his left anterior descending artery, which had become 95 per cent blocked. He said plaque had broken away and the blockage had caused a blood clot.
He added: "We later learned that the artery is colloquially called 'the widow-maker' because blockages here are so often fatal in men. I always remember when I was moaning about not being able to run, one of my consultants said: 'At the moment you just need to be grateful you're alive and that you didn't go into cardiac arrest!' It really hit home for me how serious it was."
News of two years to live
Ellis then had an echocardiogram which showed his heart hadn't healed. Six months later, a follow-up MRI found there had still not been an improvement in his heart and Ellis received the news he would need to meet the team at Wythenshawe Hospital's Heart and Lung Transplant Centre.
He said: "It was pretty wild getting that news. I had been warned at the start it may be a pathway I had to take, so it wasn't too much of a shock as I'd already been on quite a journey by then.
"Because I was fit and healthy, albeit with a heart under significant stress, they were open to getting me on the list quickly. I still couldn't run but was functioning in terms of basic life, I was still working and being a dad. Then I got the news that on my current meds, I'd have two years to live at best, which was a massive shock."
By December he was struggling with breathing and walking as his heart wasn't pumping enough fluid around. The Wythenshawe team suggested he could come in and be put on the urgent transplant list, but he didn't want to spend Christmas in hospital.
'I couldn't believe my luck'
Ellis said him and his family made sure they had a good Christmas and tried to make it special. However, he said his deteriorating condition meant he could "barely" pick up his two daughters. He went into Wythenshawe Hospital in January and had an intravenous (IV) drip that he said "revitalised" him, but added that his heart was "not happy".
Luckily, two weeks later, a heart became available. He said: "I couldn't believe my luck that I'd only been waiting two weeks as the wait is usually much, much longer. The feeling of excitement that it might happen was massive, I felt pretty amazing and focused for the next few days.
"I kept myself focused, continued exercising and mentally preparing, then I got the nod on January 31 2026 to say the donor heart was good and I had to prep for surgery. I shaved off all the hair on my torso and my wife came into the hospital, it got very emotional but before I knew it the procedure had begun and I awoke a day later."
Two weeks after his procedure, Ellis was able to return home. He has since undergone what he described as a "tremendous recovery". He said: "Since leaving I have had to adapt, the biggest thing now is my immunosuppression, so I have to consciously be aware of what I do day to day. I try to avoid public transport, supermarkets, any kind of busy enclosed spaces where I can, but for the most part I am back to a normal life.
"Fatigue is a bit of a battle at the moment, I have to manage my energy properly across every day which can be tough to balance with work. It's the same with my kids, they certainly don't slow down for me! Although I have been glad to have them on my own as my wife really needed a break – she has done so much to manage the family when I was ill."
He added: "She deserves a massive shout-out, I got the easy job of staying in hospital and doing what the medical team told me while she did everything. Having her by my side was the other huge comfort and motivator to make sure I could be there by her side long into the future. It's been a tremendous recovery and the new heart genuinely felt like a quick fix, my chest hurt for the first few weeks from being cut open, but I'm otherwise fine."
Ellis hailed staff who saved him
Instead of making "wild and crazy plans", Ellis said he is happiest having his everyday routine back. He said: "When you have been on the cusp of losing it all, you just want your normal life back. My biggest priority now is to stay as fit and healthy as I can to truly honour the gift I have received.
"Whether that is getting back out on the mountain bike or just enjoying a quiet tour in the caravan, I am determined to spend more quality time with the girls, friends, family and simply value the everyday life we have."
He also praised the staff at Wythenshawe Heart and Lung Centre for his "extraordinary" care. "Knowing that the NHS is the only provider of heart transplant care in the UK makes you realise just how exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable the team truly are," he said. "Every professional I met was an absolute specialist, but it was the human touch that meant the most."
One of the doctors responsible for Ellis' care was Dr Steve Shaw, Consultant Cardiologist at Wythenshawe Hospital. He said: "When I first saw Ellis it was clear from his heart scans and blood work that his future prognosis was poor. I recall having those difficult conversations with him and his wife, and then bringing up the subject of transplant.
"He took it all really well, and after a thorough assessment he was added to the transplant waiting list within the month. However, his condition was declining and I have to admit that I was beginning to worry about him."
He added: "When I then saw him in the New Year, he looked truly awful. He couldn't even sleep at night due to how breathless he was. I admitted him to our transplant unit and started him on continuous IV infusions of medication that temporarily increase the circulation and drive off excess fluid.
"We then changed his transplant listing status to urgent, as it was clear the time window for achieving a transplant was narrowing. We were then really fortunate to find a good donor heart for him after only a couple of weeks. Thanks to the skills of our brilliant surgeons and anaesthetists, his operation went smoothly and his new heart rescued the whole situation. All the staff here have been delighted to see Ellis make a superb recovery to date.
"Throughout his whole journey, he has been courageous, a true gentleman and fully engaged with everything we've asked of him. In many respects, he has been the perfect heart transplant patient to care for."
