The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Former Miss Ireland Lisa’s heartfelt story
WHEN Ballyduff native Lisa O’Sullivan was a baby she spent more time in Crumlin Children’s Hospital than home. Her early days were dominated by congenital heart disease and at just six-months old she underwent open heart surgery.
Growing up it was all about the GAA and cardiovascular trouble never held Lisa back. She attended primary school at Ballincrossig and later Causeway Comprehensive. At 14, she started her modelling career and was crowned Miss Ireland.
She travelled to Puerto Rico in 2002 to take part in Miss Universe, a trip the Ballyduff community kindly helped raise funds for. Athboy in County Meath is Lisa’s home today, but she is still Kerry through and through.
Fast forward to Easter 2019 and Lisa started feeling tired for no apparent reason. A visit to the cardiologist produced a devastating prognosis: the right side of her heart had enlarged and was under dangerous pressure. For the second time in her life open heart surgery would be needed to keep her alive. But being married and a mom to four small boys meant anxiety and anger would trouble her this time round.
“When I was married my cardiac team advised me to have my family early. After my youngest was two or three things started to deteriorate. That is when they called for surgery, which was originally meant to be through the groin. I was devastated when I heard the words ‘open heart surgery,” she said.
Lisa says the ‘Kerry connection’ was a source of comfort throughout her treatment and recovery. Her parents, Angela and Jimmy, rallied around her as did her sister, Gemma. Even her cardiothoracic surgeon was from familiar territory.
“When I walked into the room I found out my surgeon was a Kerry man, Dr Lars Nolte. He was absolutely amazing and he used to talk about cycling around Killarney, things like that relaxed me. He was fantastic. My husband said it must have been a good omen. I got great care from him.”
The post-op stages of Lisa’s recovery featured anxiety and worrying about being there for her children. Having her chest bone broken open also left her fragile and vulnerable.
“When I got the call to say I needed open heart surgery I was just immersed in fear. Panic and being terrified of the future, and who would be there for my four small boys? The last thing I said on the trolley before they put me out was: ‘you have to wake me up. I have to be here for my boys’. They had broken my chest bone, which meant I couldn’t sit up or lie down, the physical feeling of not being able to take a deep breath is very frightening.”
Thankfully, Lisa is on the road to recovery again. Her husband, Jamie, has been by her side throughout, while Lisa’s other recovery strategy is a uniquely Irish one: there’s always someone worse off.
“I work as a medical administrator and I see real problems coming in the door where people don’t have a good outcome and things will not get better. There’s other people with sadder stories and that’s heart-breaking. My family were always with me and that meant so much. I would say to people going through a similar experience to talk about it. Talking helps massively,” she said.