Love of Zumba nearly kills fitness fan with hole in her heart..

 

Hidden risk: Nicole Saville had an undetected hole in the heart (Picture: Guzelian)

Keep fit fan Nicole Saville’s love of exercise almost killed her as her punishing Zumba classes widened an undetected hole in her heart.
Miss Saville is thought to have been born with the condition, which was discovered only when she had ultrasound after feeling breathless.
The 20-year-old had surgery in which her chest was broken so the hole could be sewn up.
Without the operation, she could have been at risk of a heart attack or stroke. Despite the ordeal, Miss Saville has gone back to teaching Zumba.

Nicole after surgery (Picture: Guzelian)

‘I wasn’t feeling well at all,’ she said. ‘I was really run down and was finding teaching difficult.
‘Doctors did tests and found an infection, which led them to tell me I had a virus in my liver. I put up with it for a couple of months until I started having trouble breathing, and I was admitted to hospital.’
Surgeons at Leeds general infirmary performed open-heart surgery and realised a flapping piece of membrane near the hole could seal the opening.
To operate successfully, they had to break her sternum, which was put back together using metal wires.
Miss Saville, of Mirfield, West Yorkshire, made a full recovery after six months. ‘This is something that is associated with people in their seventies and eighties, but people need to realise it happens to young people like me,’ said Miss Saville, who is raising money for the Take Heart charity.