Ellis Dawson, a 39-year-old father of two from Mow Cop, Cheshire, has received a new heart after suffering a heart attack while playing football. The "fit and healthy" dad was told he had just two years to live before undergoing a transplant at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester in February.
Heart attack during football match
Ellis was playing a football match in January 2025 when he began to feel "funny." He initially thought he might carry on, but his symptoms worsened. He walked back to his car, realized he was in no fit state to drive, and called his dad to pick him up. At home, he started being sick and thought it was a panic attack, using calming breathing techniques before falling asleep on the floor.
His wife found him and, after reading up on the symptoms, feared he would be dead in the morning. She called 111, and an ambulance took him to A&E at Royal Stoke University Hospital, where an ECG confirmed a heart attack. Ellis needed two stents inserted into his left anterior descending artery, which had become 95 per cent blocked. Plaque had broken away, causing a blood clot.
Two-year prognosis
An echocardiogram showed his heart hadn't healed, and a follow-up MRI six months later found no improvement. Ellis was referred to Wythenshawe Hospital's Heart and Lung Transplant Centre. He was told that on his current meds, he had 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. Despite the Wythenshawe team suggesting he come in and be put on the urgent transplant list, he didn't want to spend Christmas in hospital. He and his family made sure they had a good Christmas, though his deteriorating condition meant he could "barely" pick up his two daughters.
Transplant and recovery
Ellis went into Wythenshawe Hospital in January and had an intravenous (IV) drip that "revitalised" him, but his heart was "not happy." 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."
He got the nod on January 31 2026 to say the donor heart was good, and the procedure began. Two weeks after surgery, he returned home. He said: "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."
Dr Steve Shaw, Consultant Cardiologist at Wythenshawe Hospital, 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 added: "We were then really fortunate to find a good donor heart for him after only a couple of weeks."
Ellis praised the staff at Wythenshawe Heart and Lung Centre for his "extraordinary" care and expressed deep gratitude to his donor's family: "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."
