Emily Amano’s Story

For most athletes, a racing heart predicts that competition is about to begin. For Emily Amano, it meant something very different.

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Ottawa Rapid FC Midfielder, Emily Amano, started playing soccer around the age of six. Describing herself as a “pretty quiet kid” she says that soccer offered her an outlet to express herself and feel creative. “I also liked soccer because it isn’t a one size fits all sport. You could be however tall or however fast and find a way to make it work for you.”

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 Approximately four years later, around the age of ten, Emily began experiencing random heart palpitations that would last for about 20 minutes. “I would be playing soccer, taking a walk, or just sitting on the couch and my heart would race. It was scary not knowing what was happening. I remember trying to stay calm and keep going but it was hard not to worry when something just didn’t feel right.”

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Grateful to her parents for years of taking her to appointments and tracking her puzzling heart health, Emily says that the randomness of her palpitation events made them seemingly impossible to detect through testing.

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Feeling safe but still uncertain, Emily joined the varsity team at Colgate University where she would play for five seasons. During a training session on the field, she was able to use the ECG app on her Apple watch to record, save, and export an episode of heart palpitations to her cardiologist Dr. Chris Johnson in Ottawa.

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Diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, Emily was scheduled to undergo an ablation procedure at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute about a month later.  “Because my ablation took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, my family was unable to be there. Being alone before heart surgery is scary and unsettling but the kindness and empathy of the nurses and staff at the Heart Institute made me feel safe and at ease.”

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Now 24, and fully recovered, Emily is back in Ottawa after playing professionally for two seasons in Sweden and Iceland. Excited to represent her hometown, Emily describes the Ottawa Rapid FC as a very special team. “It is cool that the Rapid has many international players and people from diverse backgrounds. We have brought together a lot of positive things from all over the world to build something amazing here.”

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Crediting the Heart Institute for giving her the peace of mind and stability needed to keep playing soccer at a high level, Emily says that the Institute has continuously touched her life along with so many others in the community. “I know I can speak on behalf of the Ottawa Rapid FC when I say that we are proud to have them as a partner.”

An enthusiastic spokesperson for JUMP IN™, Emily wants to send a message to other women who might have concerns about their health. “Trust what you are feeling because you know yourself better than anyone.”