When Emily Bowen was in the third trimester of her first pregnancy, she couldn’t bring herself to remove the tags from her new buggy.
‘I just felt something was off,’ Emily, 33, remembers. There had been warning signs.
Her unborn daughter, Esme, was small and an early scan had detected an irregular heartbeat. ‘You just get that mother’s instinct when something’s not right,’ the dog groomer from Swansea explains.
Esme was born on New Year’s Day 2021, during Covid, following a normal labour. Her initial heart checks were fine, but a week later she became seriously ill.
She was vomiting, breathing rapidly and Emily could see her heart racing through her tiny chest. An out-of-hours doctor sent them straight to hospital.
‘Because it was Covid, I went in on my own. I was ten days postpartum and still unwell myself. It was frightening. If that doctor hadn’t acted when he did, my daughter might not be here today.’
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At Swansea Morriston Hospital Esme underwent an echocardiogram which revealed a significant hole in her heart, known as an atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD).
She was in heart failure, and needed open-heart surgery, but was too small to undergo the operation safely.
Fitted with a nasogastric feeding tube, Esme spent six months gaining weight while Emily and her partner Mathew monitored her constantly.
‘I kept thinking of her tiny heart, which was only the size of a walnut. We were up every three hours feeding her, then keeping her upright for 45 minutes so she wouldn’t vomit.
‘She was on six or seven medications and we barely left the house for six months.
‘We were trying to connect with this newborn, but at the same time were aware it could be her last day or last hour with us.’
Four operations were booked and postponed before, in July 2021, British Heart Foundation-funded researcher and cardiothoracic consultant Professor Massimo Caputo was finally able to operate at the University Hospital, Bristol.
The couple kissed Esme goodbye at 9am, then spent the agonising wait with family, shopping for baby clothes and toys to distract themselves.
‘Mathew was petrified of complications, but I was relieved it was finally happening. We could barely talk that day.’
During the seven-hour operation, Esme’s heart was stopped for 94 minutes while machines kept her alive. At 4pm, the couple were told they could see their daughter.
‘It was a shock seeing all the wires and tubes.
But the doctor said the surgery had been uneventful. Everything had gone perfectly. I just thought – wow, he saved my daughter’s life.’
When Esme was discharged after a week, the family celebrated with coffee and French toast.
‘Going out for brunch was amazing. It was the first time we’d done something normal as a family,’ Emily says.
Today, Esme is a busy five-year-old who loves swimming, ballet, gymnastics and skiing. Although she lives with asymptomatic heart failure, remains on medication and will eventually need further surgery, her parents are determined she should enjoy life to the full, and every milestone feels extraordinary.
Determined to turn their ordeal into something positive, the family began fundraising. Mathew has completed marathons and endurance challenges, Emily ran the Cardiff Half Marathon and Esme has joined classmates for sponsored bike rides.
Together, they have raised an incredible £37,000 for the British Heart Foundation and related causes.
Their efforts have earned the charity’s Outstanding Contribution Award and a nomination the People’s Choice Award, which is partnered by Metro.
‘It’s great to have been nominated. We started fundraising as a way of coping and giving back. We’re so proud to have built a legacy for Esme at five,’ says Emily tearfully.
This month, the couple flew to Las Vegas to marry, with Esme at the heart of their celebrations.
‘The wedding is about more than getting married. It’s celebrating the little family we’ve built.
‘We didn’t think Esme would walk or talk. When you’re told your ten-day-old baby is in heart failure, you don’t know how things will play out. We’re so lucky she’s still here. We’re just so proud of her,’ she adds.
Meet the other Metro People Choice Award nominees
Bill and Margaret Black
Bill and Margaret Black, from Balerno, Edinburgh, were first touched by cardiovascular disease in 1984 when Margaret’s cousin, George, died during a heart bypass operation at the age of 58.
In 1987, they began what would become a much-loved tradition – a fundraising sale in their own home, an event that would take place on the second Tuesday of every November for the following 24 years.
In the decades since, the couple, both aged 78, have dedicated their lives to supporting others affected by the disease and raising more than £160,000 for lifesaving research.
Heartbreakingly, cardiovascular disease continued to affect their family. Margaret’s father, John, died following a heart attack in 1991. Later, Bill lost his mother, Nancy, who had been living with heart failure, and his brother, Robert, also died after suffering from heart disease.
More recently, the couple have stepped back from the large sales to focus on smaller fundraising activities, including wreath-making events and donation appeals.
Their unwavering commitment, compassion and generosity is a powerful reminder of how dedication, kindness and community spirit can change lives.
David McColgan, Head of BHF Scotland, tells Metro: ‘Over the years, Margaret and Bill they have raised an incredible amount for the British Heart Foundation, but their legacy extends far beyond the total.
‘They have shown how communities can come together, how kindness can create lasting change and how ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when driven by purpose. ’
The BHF Carterton Branch
From restoring hundreds of donated bicycles to transforming family homes with spectacular Christmas lights displays, Douglas and Pauline Timms, both 76, have spent more than four decades finding creative ways to bring their community together and raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation.
‘My wife and I first became involved with the Carteron branch of BHF because her father had suffered two strokes and died when she was young,’ Douglas tells Metro.
‘Over the years, heart and circulatory disease has continued to affect our family, including our niece, who was born with a hole in her heart, and our son, who had a stroke at the age of 51.
‘Those experiences give us a very personal reason to keep doing whatever we can to raise funds and support research.’
The branch, in Oxfordshire, has become a central part of the community’s calendar, with fundraising events including Easter bingo and garden parties.
They have also introduced innovative fundraising ideas – and in the past two years alone, Douglas has refurbished and sold more than 200 donated bikes, generating over £11,000 for the charity.
Douglas, Pauline and their fellow Carterton Branch volunteers have raised an incredible £300,000 for vital research. In 2025, the couple were awarded British Empire Medals in the New Year Honours in recognition of their outstanding service.
‘What has kept us involved for so long is knowing that we are doing what we can to help. Heart and circulatory disease has touched several generations of our family, so raising money for research is extremely important to us,’ adds Douglas.
‘Every event, whether it is a cream tea, a driveway sale or recycling donated bicycles, is another opportunity to make a difference.’
Valerie McIlveen
Valerie, from Donaghadee, County Down, didn’t think much about her heart until she collapsed while playing golf at her local club in 2006.
She was shocked to learn that she had dilated cardiomyopathy at the age of 46 and has since had to manage a serious heart condition that would affect every aspect of her life.
Reflecting on the day her life changed, Valerie tells Metro: ‘That day on the golf course changed my life. This incident shocked and frightened me, as I had no idea what had actually happened.
‘The very words ‘heart failure’ completely floored me. I honestly thought my life was over. I was frightened and overwhelmed with anxiety.’
Heartbreakingly, three years ago, Valerie’s husband, Martin, collapsed at home and went into a cardiac arrest. Despite Valerie performing CPR, Martin died in hospital.
Determined to prevent others from suffering the same fate, she pledged to continue raising awareness of CPR, defibrillators and cardiac arrest education.
Amid her grief and the challenges of managing a serious heart condition, Valerie, now 67, volunteers tirelessly as a fundraiser, speaker and advocate for the BHF.
Alongside her friend Jill Heron, she helped identify and register local defibrillators on the national network, increasing the number of registered devices in Donaghadee from 10 to 16 in just one year and helping improve access to potentially lifesaving equipment across the community.
Last year, Valerie’s health took a dramatic turn and she was placed on the urgent heart transplant list.
Just weeks later, she was given a new chance at life when she received a donor heart, and just months after major surgery, Valerie was on her feet again, helping the BHF.
‘I want to use my 20 years of experience — from being diagnosed with chronic heart disease to ultimately having a heart transplant—to help others,’ she explains. ‘I want people to know that dilated cardiomyopathy is not a death sentence,’ she adds.
‘It has shaped my life but it hasn’t stopped me living it.’