From caring practice nurse to big-hearted volunteer

Published: 11 November 2025

Throughout her thirty-year career looking after others, Diane has seen the impact heart disease has on New Zealanders. Now, following her own diagnosis, she knows exactly how important it is to support life-saving heart research.

An avid interest in heart research and the desire to help others is what drives Diane’s efforts as a Big Heart Appeal street collector.

“Even though I’ve been retired for two years now, I still try to keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to the medical world,” Diane shares. “After being a practice nurse for 30 years, it’s hard not to – especially since I’m living with a heart condition myself.”

In 2011, Diane began to experience severe breathlessness during physical activity. What she first chalked up to a general lack of fitness turned out to be something far more serious.

“I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease and being a nurse, I made all the lifestyle changes I thought I needed to,” she explains. “I began to monitor my blood pressure and manage my cholesterol. I also started going to the gym, which I really enjoyed. But after a while, I started to feel much worse when I should have been feeling better.”

She returned to her doctor who ran further tests.

“The results that came back were a bit of a surprise. They said that I had hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, or HOCM, and heart failure. The HOCM diagnosis was one I didn’t really understand and my doctor said that they would contact a specialist in Christchurch.”

Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick in some areas and can result in a blockage between the heart and the body.

Diane recalls being a little overwhelmed following this diagnosis, especially when presented with the potential treatment options. She turned to the Heart Foundation website and found that reading the personal stories of others really helped.

“It’s quite hard to find out about some of the procedures out there, but I found the Heart Foundation website great for gleaning information,” she says. “Reading the experiences of others was also comforting – I even picked up a book from my local library that one of the storytellers wrote on women’s heart health.”

Something that worries Diane is that her HOCM diagnosis doesn’t just impact her; it also has the potential to impact her family.

“One of the worst things about finding out that I had HOCM was learning that it was genetic,” she says. “I didn’t know how I was going to explain it to my children. But I’m glad that I know now, because they can keep an eye on their own hearts before something terrible happens.”

Diane hopes that her involvement in the Big Heart Appeal street collection can make vital breakthroughs possible, especially when it comes to conditions like her own.

“There’s still a lot they don’t know about HOCM and how to test for it. I imagine that’s similar for a lot of heart conditions. That’s why I feel heart research is so important.”

“By volunteering in the Big Heart Appeal, I wanted to give back and make a difference for families like mine. And it’s a really enjoyable experience. You get to meet new people and hear their stories. Sometimes, it might be someone who’s lived with a heart condition for years and other times it might be someone who just found out.”

For just two hours of your time, Diane believes that getting involved is an easy and fun way to help fellow New Zealanders.

“Honestly, just give it a go. It’s such a short burst of time that it flies by. Heart disease affects so many people, so the more of us that get involved to make a change, the better.”