Jennifer Sutton comes face to face with her old heart. Photo courtesy Kallaway

Heart transplant patient Jennifer Sutton came face to face with her own heart when she visited an exhibition in London on Tuesday September 4 2007.

Jennifer donated her old heart, which was suffering from restrictive cardiomyopathy, to the Wellcome Collection, which is staging a display exploring the medical and cultural significance of the organ.

Jennifer, 23, was visiting the exhibition to raise awareness for organ donation and restrictive cardiomyopathy.

Jennifer is raising awareness of organ donation and restrictive cardiomyopathy, the disease that nearly killed her. Photo courtesy Kallaway

Restrictive cardiomyopathy, or RCM, is a disease which causes stiffening of the heart muscles and stops the organ filling with blood properly, leading to heart failure unless a transplant can be found.

The Wellcome Collection is based around the medical collection of pharmaceutical entrepreneur Sir Henry Wellcome, who amassed a huge collection of artefacts from around the world relating to the human body and the development of medicine.

Its new gallery spaces opened in June 2007, aiming to delve into the relationships between medicine, life and art. The Heart Exhibition runs until September 16 2007.