From flying high to running far – Georgia’s ‘Great’-ful heart 

Senior cabin crew member, Georgia Morton, will be keeping her feet firmly on the ground when she takes on the Great North Run for charity on 8th September - less than a year since undergoing life-saving, major heart surgery.

Georgia, 27, from Edenthorpe in Doncaster, who works for 2Excel Aviation, wanted to run in support of Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH) Charity, after she received successful treatment at the specialist heart centre for her diseased bicuspid aortic valve.

She said: “Although I was born with a heart murmur, the bicuspid aortic valve issue wasn’t fully diagnosed until I was about 16, when I started to notice some symptoms of dizziness and palpitations.

“I was being monitored by my local hospitals for a number of years until my annual check-up in January 2023. The doctor told me that my condition had deteriorated and I would need surgery.

“The best option, with my health and my age, was surgery called the Ross procedure and the best place to carry this out was Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital with my consultant cardiac surgeon, Mr Ahmed Othman.” 

The Ross procedure, also known as the pulmonary autograft procedure, is a complex cardiac surgery that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a patient's healthy pulmonary valve. The pulmonary valve is then replaced with a donor pulmonary valve. The procedure is reserved for patients with non-repairable aortic valves.

>> WATCH GEORGIA TALK ABOUT HER PATIENT EXPERIENCE AT LIVERPOOL HEART AND CHEST HOSPITAL <<

After spending two weeks in hospital in late November and early December, Georgia made it home for Christmas, and soon started thinking of ways to show her gratitude for the care she received.

She said: “Like many people, I began running during the pandemic. Therefore, as soon as my body felt recovered, I was desperate to get my trainers back on and less than 3 months after surgery, I was out on the roads.

“I’d always wanted to do the Great North Run because it’s such a big event, but now I have the added incentive of running for such a fabulous charity and an even more incredible hospital.

“I just want to be able to say, ‘thank you’ and give something back to LHCH because it’s a wonderful place. I’m also really grateful to my company for all their support and for pledging £1000.”

For more information, please visit Georgia’s JustGiving page