AROUTINE trip to the doctors left up-and-coming entrepreneur Caroline Wrights life in tatters. Far from being run of the mill, her shortness of breath and tiredness were actually symptoms of a rare killer condition that affects just one in every 100,000 people.

Her doctor broke the news the 26-year-old would be lucky to see 30 and faced gruelling open-heart surgery if she was to have a shot at a normal life.

She had a hole in her heart, he told her, and a congenital heart condition meant her lungs were filling with blood.

The news left her devastated.

The fit, bubbly owner of event management agency Solo Events, her dreams of growing the company and building a life with her partner Mark were shattered.

I just cried and cried. I felt really scared. I had so much to live for and I thought Why me?

Im so young, she said.

I never expected my symptoms to be so serious.

I suffered from shortness of breath, heart palpitations and always felt tired.

They started to happen more regularly. I knew something was wrong, but not to the extent that it was.

After lots of tests the doctors told me that my condition was called partial venous drainage. I was born with it. Its where the vein doesnt connect to the right part of the heart and therefore blood leaks to the wrong side of the heart and lungs. Its common in babies, but not in adults.

If left untreated, eventually the left side of her heart would have ruptured, killing her instantly.

In a scene that felt like a living nightmare for Caroline, she was put under anaesthetic that sedated her for 12 hours, while surgeons broke her breastbone to access her heart.

Tissue was taken from one of her muscle walls and used to sew up the hole, and an artificial tube was placed through her heart, forming a passage that ensured blood leaked into her heart instead of her lungs.

It was scary and very surreal to think what they were going to do to me and that I may not pull through.

I was on a bypass machine during the operation to keep me alive, having blood pumped artificially around my body.

It was an anxious wait for Carolines boyfriend and family. who all stayed close by.

It is a day I will never forget. I just wanted to put it all behind me.

After three-and-a-half hours in surgery and 11 days in hospital, Caroline made a gradual recovery: I was so relieved and happy when I came round. I was worried about what the scar from the surgery would look like, as it was supposed to run from the top of my chest to my tummy, but it didnt look bad at all and it was not as obvious as I thought.

Being a young lady, I was selfconscious about how it would look and what people would think.

But the operation saved my life and the scar does not seem such a big deal now.

Apart from a barely noticeable scar, the only sign that reminds Caroline of her surgery is a numb feeling in her chest C a result of her broken breastbone C that is hindering her mobility for the shortterm.

With a three-month recovery period ahead, Caroline is staying at her parents home in Warsash and focusing her energy on a new project.

When I was in hospital I found out about the new congenital heart ward the hospital hopes to open for people my age.

I really wanted to get involved, as it was something I felt very strongly about.

Wessex Heartbeat is the charity raising funds for the ward. Through her own agency, Solo Events, Caroline plans to help raise money for the new project by hiring out her new protegees in the form of Winchester Universitys dance and gym squad, Passion.

She said: They are a fantastic group and with their help I will be putting on events and will be able to give something back.

I feel like I have been given a new chance at life. I feel amazing since the operation.

Looked after by the wonderful nurses in the E2 ward, Caroline said she feels like a different person now.

I can start to do things on my own again. Now I want to help the people who gave me back my life.

ñ For more information on Wessex Heartbeat or to book Passion for a fundraising event go to heartbeat.co.uk or www.soloevents.biz.