50 year old Polly Abrey, a mother of two, became seriously ill at her home in November 2023.
She had a tear in her aorta, the large artery in the heart which carries blood around the body.
Her blood pressure and oxygen levels were dangerously low.
She was taken to Croydon Hospital where the tear was found to likely be the result of a pre-existing weakness of her aortic wall.
She was transferred to specialist heart and cancer centre St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
When she finally regained consciousness, she had lost a lot of her mobility and the family says it has been a slow road to recovery.
