Scotsman

JONATHAN LESSWARE

A TERMINALLY ill builder who became the first patient in the UK to undergo a "beating heart" transplant, has told how he now hopes to live for another 20 to 30 years.

Michael Burt, 58, a father-of-four, returned home just three weeks after the ground-breaking surgery. He had been diagnosed with terminal heart failure and given less than 12 months to live when he put himself forward for the trial.

The operation involves removing the heart from a deceased patient, restarting it using special equipment, and implanting it, still beating, into the new patient.

It means surgeons can keep hearts for longer and transport them over greater distances from donor to patient.

Mr Burt said he felt "brilliant" after the operation at Papworth Hospital, near Cambridge, in May, and hopes the trial will help save more lives in the future.( >>Read on )