Heart transplant patients who underwent a pioneering form of surgery have reunited with the medics who saved their lives to mark the 10th anniversary of the first operation of its kind.
A group of 20 patients returned to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge after undergoing a non-beating heart transplant operation.
Surgeries traditionally needed a heart that was still beating, taken from a donor who had died a brain-stem death, but in February 2015 the hospital became the first in Europe to perform the procedure with a heart that had stopped beating.
The hospital has since performed 134 non-beating heart transplants, which it says is the highest number at any UK centre and one of the highest in the world.
Annette Tremlin, 68, who was one of the first people in the country to receive a non-beating heart transplant in June 2015, described how the surgery had allowed her to watch her grandchildren grow up.
“All six of them were under five years old when I had my transplant and my biggest fear at that time was that I wouldn’t be part of their lives,” she said.
“Now they’re all teenagers and it’s just amazing. Heart failure stops you in your tracks. Transplant has allowed me to live a normal life again.”
She added: “It has been amazing to see people that I’ve not seen for the last 10 years that are still healthy and living good quality lives.”
The procedure developed at Royal Papworth restores the functions of the heart and places it into an “organ care system” to maintain its quality before surgery.
Liam Kay, 35, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, who became the 106th recipient at Royal Papworth when he received his transplant in 2022, recalled how the procedure has enabled him to start salsa dancing twice a week.
“It was never something I wanted to do before. My brother started it and I thought I’d give it a go”, he said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this prior to my transplant, I was far too sick.”
The pioneering technique was the product of research led by Royal Papworth surgeons Steven Large and Steven Tsui, supported by funding from the Royal Papworth Charity.
Heart transplants tend to be difficult to do because of the lack of suitable hearts available, but the ability to use non-beating hearts can increase the number of transplants hospitals can conduct, saving hundreds of lives.
Mr Large said: “It has been wonderful to see some of our first patients living healthy and fulfilling lives.
“We would not have been able to do this without them putting their trust in us, so thank you.
“We also cannot do what we do without the gift of organ donation. People agreeing to donate their organs, and sharing that with their loved ones, is so important.”
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