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'I was told I had weeks to live': Model's private health battle

To Australia, Heather McCartney is the wild-at-heart model who danced naked in a skybox at the 2014 AFL grand final.

The motives of her controversial strip, which lead to her lashing out at numerous police, were questioned at the time. But the act was eventually written off as a boozy dare that got out of hand.

In reality, the nude show was one more thing to tick off her bucket list as she believed her chance to live in the moment was incredibly limited.

A few months prior to the infamous show, Heather was told she’d be lucky to live a few more weeks.

Heather was still working as a model during her diagnosis. Photo: Guy Tadman
Heather was still working as a model during her diagnosis. Photo: Guy Tadman

The Scottish-born, Gold Coast based beauty was just 25-years-old when she was faced with the reality of living with a rare bone marrow disease.

“I first raised the alarm in December 2013, I was hospitalised on Boxing Day. I had a bone marrow biopsy and kept pushing on,” she told Yahoo7.

“A month later I was told it was pretty serious. I kept coming back to Melbourne for blood transfusions”.

In February 2014, after finishing up at a photo shoot on the Gold Coast Heather flew straight to Melbourne for another transfusion where she was told she had severe aplastic anemia and that her bone marrow had completely shut down.

Heather spent months in hospital.
Heather spent months in hospital.

Due to her rare HLA tissue type it was unlikely she’d fine a suitable donor in time.

“If you don’t have a sibling and can’t get a matching donor you’re pretty much buggered,” she said.

Instead of telling the world what she was dealing with, Heather decided to keep it to herself and concentrated on kicking as many “life goals” as possible.

“(At the time) I couldn’t care less if I were eaten by a lion and I did some crazy s***’.

“It did worry me but I never got upset about it. To be honest I felt fine”.

Heather says she didn't tell her co-workers about her illness. Photo: Guy Tadman
Heather says she didn't tell her co-workers about her illness. Photo: Guy Tadman

Still continuing her routine of returning to the Gold Coast for work and flying back to Melbourne for treatment, in March she was told she "had been dying" for six months and it was likely she’d reached “the last kick”.

“Initially my doctor said I had weeks to live… I just kept thinking how did this happen? Was I partying too hard? Was it genetic? But it’s just one of those things. It just happened.”

“My doctor suggested I go on a holiday, I was well enough at the time so I went to South Africa,” she said.

When she returned she was offered a last minute chance to save her life.

Heather during her treatment in Melbourne. Photo: Heather McCartney
Heather during her treatment in Melbourne. Photo: Heather McCartney

“I was offered the chance to be apart of a clinical trial which involved using stem cell from horses.

The treatment involved Heather receiving new stem cells made from horse gamma to kickstart her bone marrow.

“The horse gamma stem cells are pumped through a pick in your left arm and the tube goes into your heart,” she said.

With an increasing need for blood transfusions and nothing else on the table, she decided to give it a try and flew to St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne to start treatment.

“I told my mum last minute just incase, I told some close friends but I didn’t want to tell anyone I worked with,” she said.

Fortunately she took to the treatment and faced the anxious wait to remission, but she still remained quiet about her condition.

Four months after being told she may only have two weeks to live, Heather returned to work as a model.

When questioned about her hiatus she told people she had just been travelling a lot.

Heather shares private hospital photos.
Heather shares private hospital photos.

Unsure if she’d get the all clear Heather said she used the time waiting to live life to the fullest.

Watching an AFL grand final was on her bucket list.

“I always wanted to be at a huge game and the opportunity was there,” she said.

While she said her infamous strip wasn’t planned it certainly lived up to her "live while you can" mantra.

“I had been drinking all day and my friends were egging me on. I just said f*** it and did it. It’s terrible but it was worth it, I wanted to do it and did. I could’ve gotten in s***loads more trouble,” she said.

“I was just happy to be there. Three months prior I didn’t even know if I’d walk out of the hospital”.

When asked why she never chose to explain her baffling actions when given the chance during the media circus, Heather said she didn’t want to “jinx herself”.

“I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. I wanted to wait and see if I had the all clear.

A few months after her short-lived fame for being the cause of yet another AFL controversy, Heather got the news she had been waiting for… the stem cell treatment had worked.

Last month she finally took to Facebook to tell the public what was going on.

Heather says she's happy to be in remission. Photo: Heather McCartney
Heather says she's happy to be in remission. Photo: Heather McCartney

“I can now say I am in remission,” she said.

And while some would say she might regret the strip, she insists she has none as she lived in the moment when she thought her time was limited.

“I’ve learnt to live in the moment as I’ve got so much stuff I want to do,” she said.

Since her ordeal the clinical trial was made available to the public, for those unable to find a matching donor.

St Vincent’s Hospital is one of three in Australia that conduct the trials.

Thanks to those who took part, Australia is now one step closer to finding a cure to bone marrow cancer.

“They cured me of this rare illness where I am a one in three million rare tissue type, making matches impossible,” Heather said.

“This treatment will save lives. One in four Australians are diagnosed with blood cancer every day,” she said.

“Horses saved my life and can save yours too.”

You can vist Heather's Instagram account here.