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Marty's Trauma and Recovery, plus a recommendation for the Blood Transfusion Service

On August 15th 2005, Marty suffered a totally unexpected heart attack, even though he is a "Keep fit" fanatic. The Pilgrim Hospital Boston, were very quick to diagnose this as Marty's family has a strong genetic family history of Coronary Arterial Disease (C.A.D.). Pilgrim Hospital was absolutely brilliant to Marty, and after spending 1 week on their excellent Coronary Care Unit, they transferred him as an emergency to Leicester's Glenfield Heart Hospital by ambulance with a nurse escort. There, he was quickly diagnosed with severe Triple C.A.D., & Therefore needed an emergency triple bypass done the "New way". This involved a triple heart bypass using 2 mammary arteries & 1 vein, as opposed to 1 mammary artery & 2 veins. Marty is therefore a research patient on their "ARTERIAL REVASCULARISATION TRIAL (ART)". . Using 2 arteries & 1 vein, this operation hopefully should last a lot longer. 2 days after surgery, Marty suffered a cardiac arrest because of the "Shock" to his heart due to surgery. His coronary arteries were extremely diseased, & the "Op" caused his heart to go "Haywire". He was "Critical" for 3 days on the Coronary Intensive Care Unit, & was not stable until after another 4 days on High Dependency. Several of the staff have told him it was an absolute miracle he survived! Because of his gym workouts at Fitness First Boston, this was to eventually help save him. Marty says, "THE PILGRIM HOSPITAL AT BOSTON, AND LEICESTER'S GLENFIELD HOSPITAL, WERE ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT TO ME. GLENFIELD IS NOW BRITAIN'S NO 1 CARDIAC ESTABLISHMENT, AND BOSTON WERE VERY QUICK TO DIAGNOSE I HAD A SERIOUS CONDITION. I OWE MY LIFE TO THESE BRILLIANT PLACES! -- I COULDN'T HAVE HAD BETTER TREATMENT!" Because Marty was so poorly, he had to have some blood transfusions. Regulations mean he now cannot be a blood donor. However, in December, he & his wife Sue were asked to help in the NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES' Christmas recruitment campaign. (www.blood.co.uk). This is because they have both been "Critically ill" and have needed blood transfusions. This involved going on local Radio and several newspapers around the County of Lincolnshire with their story. It is very rare for a married couple to have both been seriously ill. Through this appeal, they helped to recruit 193 new blood donors in Boston, and 1700 in total for the whole of the county of Lincolnshire. Marty and Sue intend to be ongoing supporters of the National Blood Service www.blood.co.uk . MARTY & SUE ARE BOTH LUCKY TO BE ALIVE & WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL FRIENDS & FAMILY, ALL N.H.S. STAFF FOR THEIR SUPERB TREATMENT, KINDNESS & GENUINE CONCERN, ON WHAT HAS BEEN A VERY, VERY TOUGH FEW YEARS FOR THEM. "I hope to be back on the road gigging very soon" says Marty. "This is a tough recovery but I shall return".

To save someone's life by giving blood, find out more at www.blood.co.uk