A heart transplant survivor has described his miraculous second chance at life having lived with the heart of another man since 1986.
Jeff Whitford (73) was one of the first people here to undergo the life-changing surgery after he was told his heart was beginning to fail.
He is now among the longest-living heart transplant patients not just in Northern Ireland, but the world.
In 1978, the Lisburn man was diagnosed with a condition that inhibits the heart from pumping blood effectively called dilated cardiomyopathy, with doctors implying he didn’t have long to live.
“I was 25 when I was first diagnosed, and heart transplants weren’t around. So they gave me a pacemaker and that kept me going until 1986 but my heart was failing badly by that time,” he explained.
“The only option they had was a transplant which is when the programme had just really started.”
Dr John Geddes, a cardiologist at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, referred Jeff to Papworth Hospital in Cambridge with the hopes of receiving the surgery after installing his pacemaker in 1980.
The recently deceased Dr Geddes was known for his pioneering work in helping to develop the world’s first mobile coronary care unit and carried out the first implant of a pacemaker here.
“Dr John Geddes arranged for me to travel over to Papworth and get assessed just before Christmas in 1985. It was either this or nothing, so we went for it,” he recalled.
“Professionally, John had been looking after me since 1980. When he put in the pacemaker it was very successful for me, it kept me going and kept me alive.”
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Shortly after a family trip to Portrush with his wife and two daughters, Jeff received a call from Papworth checking if he was experiencing any infection or flu.
“I said ‘No, I was fine’ and then I was told there will be an ambulance calling for you in an hour’s time – we have a heart.
“My wife came home from work, we got the children out of school and my parents came to look after them. We got a 4.30 shuttle to Heathrow and got transferred by blue lights to Papworth.”
The life-changing surgery took around five hours and, once complete, Jeff was guided to an isolation unit for 5-6 days as well as a halfway house to ensure a smooth recovery.
“I woke up, felt the heart in my chest and thought that I’d never be able to live with this strong beat in my chest after so many years of not having one. But it soon settled down. Everything went according to plan.”
Unfortunately, Jeff’s body then began to reject his heart and he was put on steroids to assist with the recovery. Subsequently, his hip deteriorated due to the potency of the medication.
Due to his young age at the time he didn’t get a new hip until he was 55.
Despite his fluctuations in health, Jeff has gone on to make the most of his new lease of life.
He is now a grandfather of five and has journeyed across Europe and Northern Ireland with his wife, Sheelagh.
“There have been ups and downs, it hasn’t all been plain sailing health-wise. The first 15 years were great however old age has crept in. But I’m feeling quite well at the moment,” he said.
“I’ve been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany so we’ve done quite a lot of travelling around. I love the north coast; we had a caravan up in Portrush for 19 years.”
John has never forgotten the man who gave him his heart and remained forever grateful to the family for the second chance at life he was granted.
He described how lucky he was to find a donor matching his blood type which accounts for only a small fraction of the population in the UK.
“The heart was a perfect match for me, we were both AB positive. AB positive is only about 4% of the population,” he said.
“Hardly a day goes past when I don’t think about the donor. The donor family ultimately gave me permission which was a big thing as well. It’s the family that gives the ultimate sanction for the donor organs used.
“It’s 38 plus years now I’ve been going, it’s amazing. I still find it hard to believe myself. I’m thankful for Royal Papworth hospital, the team there are excellent. The Royal Victoria looks after me in between my check-ups at Royal Papworth twice a year.”
Since Jeff’s operation in 1986, the procedure has taken huge strides into the modern day with over 3,000 heart transplants taking place in the UK every year.
He gave some advice to future patients preparing to undergo surgery.
“Don’t break the rules, whatever they ask you to do, do it,” he said.
“Heart transplants are so successful now. In my time it was not as certain but they’ve refined it much more in the last 38 years.”