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The UK’s oldest living heart transplant patient paid tribute to the NHS as it celebrated its 90th birthday on Sunday.
Ted Warner underwent surgery at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge in 1990 after suffering from heart disease and being told he had only three weeks to live.
Remarkably, 31 years later he is the oldest surviving person in the UK to have had a heart transplant.
The grandfather from near Leicester said undergoing the operation was like being ‘born again’ and paid tribute to the NHS.
“Heart transplants were still relatively new back then and something you read in a newspaper or saw on the news,” he told PA Media.
“It was quite remarkable, my breathing was so much clearer. My heart was so bad that everything would have been an improvement, but honestly it was like being born again, like I was 16 for the second time.
He added, “I am so grateful for the care I received. The NHS is truly the best in the world.
While others who have had heart transplants have survived longer – the record is 37 – Warner is now the oldest living person in Britain to have the operation.
The hospital, which performed the UK’s first heart transplant in 1979, confirmed the case with the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which oversees the national data.
Warner, a retired businessman, said he would always be grateful to the family of the man whose heart was offered to him.
“You can never express how kind, generous and selfless he and his family are for giving his heart to someone he doesn’t know,” he said.
His hobbies include golf and clay pigeon shooting. Turning 90 in June, Warner finally had the opportunity on Sunday to celebrate the event with his family.
The operation allowed him to spend more time with his two sons, Neil and Adam, and he now also has three grandchildren.
His sons said their father was a “remarkable man”, adding: “We are so lucky to have him with him so long after his transplant, giving us many precious family years where he and mum could make more memories. together and spend time with their grandchildren as they grow up.
Warner, whose wife Annette died in 2019, still visits Royal Papworth Hospital twice a year for his post-transplant check-ups.
Dr Jayan Parameshwar, who has worked in the hospital’s transplant unit since 1991 and attended the anniversary celebration, said: “Ted is a perfect advertisement for what heart transplantation can achieve.
“He has made full use of his extra 31 years so far, staying busy and active even at the age of 90.”
The surgeon who performed the operation, Francis Wells, also attended the celebration, and it was the first time the two had met since 1990.
There are 77 recorded cases of heart transplant patients who have survived more than 30 years, according to the NHSBT.
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