A Saskatoon teen is thankful for an accident that led to the discovery that she has a rare heart condition.
Julia Genaille, 14, was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2014, a heart disorder that can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.
She was born with the disease, but didn’t know it all along.
“Generally people find out they have this, or families find out, in autopsy,” her mother Jessica said.
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Genaille was diagnosed after an ATV accident at a family farm. She crashed into a barn and the vehicle flipped on top of her. She was unharmed, but went to the local hospital to get checked.
During tests, the doctor noticed something else was wrong.
X-rays showed she had an abnormal heart murmur and she was told to get it looked at further by an expert.
After a visit to Royal University Hospital months later, she got the news.
“They did more x-rays, and then that same day I was told that I had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy,” Julia said.
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Since the diagnosis, she’s been prescribed medication and had surgery to put a pacemaker in her chest.
When she’s older, she may require a heart ablation and eventually a transplant.
For now, the family is happy they discovered she has the condition from an accident they call a blessing in disguise.
“It was. That’s what we call it every single day.”