Fiona Coote’s SUCCESS STORY

“It’s no big deal really,” smiled 14-year-old Fiona Coote in 1984, as she recovered from her miraculous heart surgery. “It doesn’t hurt or anything like that!”

Today, 37 years on, Fiona is still smiling. “I am remarkably well but I really do look after myself,’’ she said in 2018.

Faced with heart failure resulting from complications brought about by viral-induced tonsillitis, she underwent two transplants – the first was rejected by her body so she had a second transplant in 1986.

“If it weren’t for medical research and the wonderful work of Dr Victor Chang, I wouldn’t be standing here today,” she said.

Fiona, 51, still works to support heart transplantation in Australia, and has close ties with the Victor Chang Foundation as a patron. She’s also one of the longest surviving recipients in the world.