At the tender age of 10, Scarlett Hack began to experience troubling symptoms such as shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Initially dismissed as mere anxiety—a condition she was already grappling with—these symptoms prompted her concerned parents to seek multiple medical opinions. Their persistence eventually led to an echocardiogram that revealed a more serious underlying issue.

The young girl was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition marked by the thickening of the heart muscle. “This heart disease was spontaneous in me. My entire family doesn’t have any record of it, only me,” Scarlett shared in an interview with 9news.com.au, shedding light on the uniqueness of her condition.

Following the diagnosis, Scarlett’s parents faced a stark reality. They were advised by her doctor to learn CPR, as there was no cure for the condition she was suffering from. Despite their best efforts, Scarlett’s symptoms continued to escalate over the subsequent three years.

Her medical journey took another turn when she was diagnosed with a second heart condition known as arrhythmia burden disease. This condition is characterized by prolonged periods where the heart beats in an abnormal rhythm, adding another layer of complexity to Scarlett’s already challenging health battle.

“After the doctor’s appointment, my parents were told by the doctor, ‘You should learn CPR as this has no cure’.”

Hack’s symptoms only worsened over the next three years until she was diagnosed with a second heart disease called arrhythmia burden disease – the time the heart spends in abnormal rhythm.

She fainted often, which caused her heart to stop each time, and eventually had an internal defibrillator installed.

During a doctor’s appointment, her heart started racing and she went into cardiac arrest.

“I was screaming to my dad, ‘Don’t let me die, don’t let me die’,” she said.

”It was very traumatising.”

Hack was in cardiac arrest for 40 minutes and then put on life support.

Her parents had two choices: let her go or wait for a heart donor.

“I only had two weeks to get it. If not, I’d be declared brain dead,” she said.

“On the eighth day, my parents got the call at 2am, and they had a heart for me, and then I went into surgery at 7am.”

Now aged 18, Hack is studying nursing so she can care for other children who may be in the same position she was in.

New data by the Heart Research Institute found 144,000 Australians are living with a deadly heart disease, which claims nine lives and causes 170 hospitalisations each day.

Of those who survive heart failure, 65 per cent return to the emergency department within a year. 

Heart Research Institute chief executive Andrew Coats said many people were unaware their heart was failing to pump blood and oxygen around the body as it should.

“Heart disease can affect any one of us,” he said.

“For too many Australians, it strikes without warning, taking the lives of loved ones far too soon.”

Part of the issue is awareness.

Hack urged anyone with symptoms of heart disease to get themselves checked. 

“There’s no harm in you getting checked out by a doctor,” she said.

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