A GLASGOW heart failure patient has spoken of her joy at featuring in a charity’s brand new Christmas single, alongside West End stars. 

Donna Cook, from Kilsyth, features in the video for Pumping Marvellous’ Christmas single ‘Music Will Live On In Our Hearts’, with ex-Britain’s Got Talent winner, Jai McDowall sharing lead vocals with West End actress, Alice Fearn. 

Donna was born with heart complications, before being diagnosed with heart failure in 2015 at the age of 26. 

She said: “It was such a honour to take part in this, and with other heart failure patients because it gives people the message to not give up, even when it feels like everything is going wrong. Life still goes on.

“This year has been tough and I have been in and out of the hospital for surgeries, so to end the year with something like this means so much to me.”
Donna stars alongside other heart failure patients from across the UK in the music video.

Nick Hartshorne-Evans, founder of Pumping Marvellous, said: “It’s been a hard year for everyone but for heart failure patient getting teams relocated to Covid wards meant that the care that they were getting before really wasn’t there anymore.”

Donna, a volunteer and ambassador for the heart failure charity, said: “My nurse was pulled out of my team to be placed on the Covid ward. It was difficult but I’ve had to live with this for many years now so I wasn’t as stressed as I imagine someone who is newly diagnosed would be. 

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“Heart failure is something that most folk think happens to just older and elderly people. I’m living proof that it happens to young people too."

Music Will Live In Our Hearts is also the heart failure charity’s bid for Christmas number one. 

Nick said: “Christmas number one? Why not! We have a great song with a great message. 

“It’s about raising awareness of things like young people being diagnosed, and just raising the profile of heart failure when people are deciding to donate to charities.”

The single is available to stream and buy now on Amazon Music, Spotify and Apple Music and the music video is available on YouTube.

 

For more information on Pumping Marvellous, you can visit their website here.