For 23 years I've lived with the biggest hole in my heart that doctors have ever seen

Louise Banks was dismissed as a lazy child by her PE teachers when she fainted during sports day.

Later, doctors told her she had epilepsy and she nearly died during the birth of her son Ben because her heart fluttered erratically.

Only now, at the age of 23, has she discovered what the problem really was - the biggest hole in the heart doctors had ever seen.

At an inch and a half (4cm) across, it was four times larger than the usual major hole in the heart.

As soon as it was diagnosed Louise had urgent surgery, and is now back home in Exeter with partner Matthew Folland, 30, and Ben, four.

She is looking forward to enjoying a normal life running around with her son, playing sport and dancing.

She said: "I always knew there was something wrong, I could feel my heart start and stop. It was like a baby wriggling in my chest.

"I don't feel angry with the doctors for missing it - I would rather have been operated now than 23 years ago when science wasn't so advanced.

"I'm looking forward to my new life. It will be great to be able to dance without collapsing!"

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Louise first knew something was wrong at the age of eight when she collapsed at her primary school and woke up on the way to hospital.

She was diagnosed as "a fainty child" and sent back to school.

Louise then began to collapse regularly when exercising but her condition was repeatedly explained away as epilepsy.

At 14 she could feel her heart stopping and starting again with a jump up to 70 times a day.

When she joined a gym aged 16 the training instructors were stunned when her heart rate dropped when she used a running machine.

They urged her to see a doctor but, again, her condition was misdiagnosed.

Her condition was spotted only in January when she saw a new GP at her local practice.

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He sent her for an ultrasound scan - the first she had had. It revealed a hole between the two main chambers of the heart.

It was allowing oxygenated blood to mix with deoxygenated blood, causing her to collapse.

She was sent at once to Southampton General Hospital's expert cardiac unit, and had her surgery in early February.

During the six-hour operation, doctors found the hole was much bigger than they thought, and it is now believed to be the biggest ever treated.

The medical team stitched the sides of the hole together, which repaired her life-long condition.

She has been left with no lasting effects apart from a ten-inch (25cm) scar on her chest.

Louise, who now wants to train as a paramedic, plans to organise a ball to raise funds for charity, at which she will be able to dance properly for the first time.

Cuddling her son Ben, she said: "Teachers at school said I was lazy, I was always told 'chop, chop' by teachers in PE lessons.

"I puffed up and went an odd blue colour and looked very pale. They did brain scans and thought I had epilepsy but nobody thought of my heart."

Cathy Ross of the British Heart Foundation, said: "She's incredibly lucky. I've never heard of anyone having a hole in their heart that large.

"I can't believe she's gone through her life - including delivering her child, which is very stressful - without anyone picking it up."