Ferns striker Paige Satchell reveals surgery to correct heart condition

Football Fern Paige Satchell has revealed she had surgery four weeks ago to correct a heart condition she’s managed for seven years.

The condition — Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) — produces a rapid heartbeat when the normal electrical impulses of the heart are disrupted.

Satchell says she first became aware of the condition when she was 17 and had managed it as best she could.

But the 24-year-old striker eventually decided surgery was needed to correct the condition and she had the procedure in October.

Her games for New Zealand against South Korea last week were her first since the operation, and she is ready for the Wellington Phoenix season opener against Melbourne City on Sunday November 20.

She said the condition meant her heart rate could “skyrocket”.

“It was almost like a switch,” she says. “It would just start going like 200 beats per minute kind of thing.”

Wearing an Apple smart watch helped capture data that helped her cardiologist’s diagnosis, and led to the resulting two-hour surgery.

“They go up through your groin, and they put wires into your heart and they can either burn or freeze these wires that are sending mixed signals,” she said.

Satchell: ‘I’m good to go again, mentally and physically’