New heart just right for the job

After more than 20 years of illness, there's just one thing Rotorua's Margi Inskeep wants - a job.
The 21-year-old says it's hard to believe how much energy she now has and she's keen to live a normal life, get a job and fend for herself.
Margi was born with a congenital heart disease and at just 6 was diagnosed with HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). The disease had already taken the lives of her grandmother and an aunt and she was told that without a transplant, she was unlikely to live to see her 25th birthday.
"It didn't worry me so much growing up but when I was 15 I was told I needed a new heart or I would die within 10 years," she told The Daily Post.
"That's when it got really bad and I started to get heart failure."
She was connected to an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) that kept her heart working properly but "wasn't the most pleasant" experience.
Visits to the hospital became second nature to her and for six years she waited.
The good news came in March last year when she was told that five weeks from then, she would be getting a new heart.
"I was pretty lucky, I only had to wait five weeks. Some people wait for years to get one," Margi said.
Her new heart should last her about 20 years.
"It's a lifetime for me," she said.
"It's my second chance.
"Now I can have a good quality life, rather than be sick all the time."
Margi longs for a "normal" life.
"I really want to get a job and just do the normal things everyone takes for granted - getting out of bed every day and not being in hospital, just like everyone else.
"The fact I can actually do that is an amazing feeling."
Her mother, Pat Revell, said her daughter's condition was hard to take and she lived in denial for years.
"We didn't realise just how sick she was," she said.
"I still couldn't believe the doctor when he said she only had months to live. But now there's such a huge difference - she's definitely not as grumpy now."
As far as Mrs Revell knows, Margi is only the fifth person in Rotorua to have had a heart transplant and about 10 transplants are done in New Zealand every year.
"This is because there just aren't enough hearts," she said. "The doctors told us New Zealand was one of the worst places in the world for organ donors. People just don't want to do it."
Although Margi isn't out of the woods just yet and still has to make fortnightly visits to Auckland Hospital for check-ups, she expects that to be over fairly soon and wants to put her computing skills to good use and hopes to be able to find a job where she can do that.
"I'm really good with them and have passed the level four national certificate in computing. Working with computers would be nice," she said.
CAN YOU HELP? If you think you can help Margi find a job or have a job that may suit, email her at margi_world11@hotmail.com or contact The Daily Post on (07) 348 6199.