Dublin teen credits Irish dancing with helping her heart surgery recovery

To her joy, the Dubliner not only continues to pursue her passion - she’s a world champion Irish dancer. This spring she will take part in The Irish Dancing World Championships in Killarney.

While her congenital heart condition posed a risk, Sineád now credits her fitness from Irish dancing with aiding her recovery.

“Because of my fitness level before the surgery, it helped me to go back (dancing) without having to give it up. But they always had a worry that I wouldn't be able to continue,” says the 19 year old.

“I still wanted to dance - it’s my only hobby, because I wasn't allowed do contact sports. I was lucky enough and fortunate enough to be able to continue dancing after my surgery.”

The Tallaght woman took up dancing at the age of four and took part in her first competition when she was six. She started dancing with her aunt Helen Burke - who was an Irish dancing teacher - until she was 15. She hopes to teach dancing herself in the future.

But being born with a congenital heart disease meant continuing her passion came under threat, making Sineád’s achievements - she already has three world medals - all the more remarkable.

“I was born in the Coombe Hospital and I was transferred to the neonatal unit because I had jaundice. They detected that I had a heart murmur so they discharged me from the Coombe and I was then brought to Crumlin Hospital for a six week check-up. There, they detected I had a bicuspid aortic valve.”

This meant the valve which controls the flow of blood from the heart’s left-ventricle chamber to the main artery had only two flaps instead of three. It can cause the valve opening to become narrow or blocked and would require open-heart surgery at some point.

“I was kept under monitoring care for between six and 12-month hospital check-ups - having routine MRIs, echo and ECG exams to make sure everything was OK,” she explains.

At the age of 12, she had a procedure to widen her valve as her heart condition continued to have an impact. In January 2021, she underwent open heart surgery to install an aortic valve. She and her loved ones, including her parents Lisa and Anthony, found this a very stressful and worrying time.

“I was very nervous beforehand. It was very nerve wracking for myself and my family. I had great care in Crumlin Hospital. I was in touch with the psychologist down in Crumlin to make sure I felt prepared for the surgery.

“It was open heart surgery and during the operation to do the valve replacement they noticed I had an aneurysm on my heart that had to be removed too. I was in surgery for about nine hours or more.”

It would be eight more months before Sineád could return to dancing again, with no guarantees she could do so at all.

“They didn't think I'd actually ever be able to continue dancing because the physical side of it could have a strain on the heart rate. But I was lucky enough to be able to dance because it helped me prolong the need to do surgery at a younger age.

"It gave me a greater lifetime without having to get the surgery done at a younger age, and it helped keep my fitness level up.”

Dancing also, she believes, helped her recovery time following the major surgery.

“The recovery after the surgery was much better because I was out of hospital within six days after surgery. That was meant to be two weeks. And so they were delighted with that recovery. I was back dancing by September after the surgery.”

In April, Sineád will take part in the Irish Dancing World Championships in Killarney.

Sineád recently shared her story in the book Resilience and Me. She is also studying early childhood care and as well as teaching dance, hopes to one day work with children.

“My hope for the future is to work in a hospital setting, and give back for the care I was given.”

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect worldwide and between 500-600 babies are born with the condition here in Ireland each year. CHD can vary from mild, such as a small hole in the heart, to severe, such as missing or poorly-formed parts of the heart. Children may need heart surgery, or even repeated surgeries, to manage the disease.

Heart Children Ireland has been raising awareness of congenital heart disease throughout the month of February.

February is Global Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Month.

For more information on congenital heart disease and the work of the charity Heart Children, visit www.heartchildren.ie