Usually people will either receive a new heart or die waiting, but Wagga army veteran David Farrell has bucked that trend.

He believes it is a 'miracle' and that medical marijuana has played a vital role in his recovery.

In other news:

Struck down with chest pains and breathing problems right when COVID was starting to hit Australia's shores, Mr Farrell and his family thought it might be the virus, but tests soon revealed otherwise.

"He was suddenly diagnosed with severe dilated cardiomyopathy in June 2020," wife Miranda Farrell said.

It's believed the heart condition was caused due to stress related to his service in the army. During that time he received serious injuries to his leg which was ultimately amputated.

Despite the shock diagnosis, Mr Farrell did not have to go on the heart transplant list straight away.

When his condition worsened, he was sent to St Vincents Hospital in Sydney, where he stayed for the next eight weeks.

"While I was there, we were told I needed a heart transplant," Mr Farrell said.

To qualify for the transplant, Mr Farrell was required to improve his overall health.

"There's a massive process to be put on the list. He had to get teeth removed, check for cancers, etc," his wife Miranda said. "It took us quite a while to get that done."

Mr Farrell finally made the list in May 2021.

"In June 2020, his heart was only pumping out at 10 per cent," Mrs Farrell said.

"In August that year David commenced treatment with CBD oil."

The CBD oil, otherwise known as Canabidiol, is a marijuana extract approved for medical use and doesn't contain THC, the component known to cause hallucinations.

"He started showing improvements all over," Mrs Farrell said.

In September 2021, Mr Farrell doubled his dosage of CBD oil and started doing a lot of exercise.

To the amazement of medical professionals, after about 12 months, his condition had improved so much he no longer required the transplant and was removed from the list.

"If you talked to the medical establishment, they would probably disagree with me that it's CBD oil, but I believe it is," Mr Farrell said.

"Unless miracles do happen, the CBD oil is the only thing that helped," Mrs Farrell said.

The couple are now calling for greater acceptance of the controversial treatment.

"People need to realise it's not as bad as it's made out to be. It's surrounded by stigma because it's a product of marijuana," Mrs Farrell said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: