Horndean woman saved by transplant makes organ donation appealÂ
Joanne Hext was one of five people who had an organ transplant within a record-breaking 36 hours at the same hospital.Â
The 54-year-old had a heart transplant at the Royal Papworth Hospital near Cambridge in February.Â
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Hide AdShe was diagnosed with genetic cardiomyopathy - a condition which causes the heart's muscles to thicken - following a stroke five years ago.
She said her brother had always had a poorly heart but after her stroke doctors discovered it was due to a faulty gene in her family.
'˜I was keeping quite well, plodding on with the medication, then about a year ago now in August I was away on holiday with the children and grandchildren and I just began to feel really quite unwell,'Â she explained.Â
'˜I went back to my local hospital the Queen Alexandra in Cosham and my cardiologist there said I think I need to refer you for a transplant.'Â
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Hide AdShe went on the waiting list for a transplant in January and had a successful heart transplant six weeks later.
'˜It's absolutely transformed my life,'Â she said.
'˜I can walk and talk when I couldn't do either before, I'm playing with my grandsons, football, and I'm looking forward to going back to work, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.'
She said she feels '˜so grateful'Â to the donor's family, adding '˜you feel humbled they've been able to do that and transformed somebody's life, for something good to come out of something so tragic'.
She said the hospital staff had been '˜amazing', and her brother who has the same genetic condition is now on the transplant waiting list too.
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Hide AdTwo men and two other women aged between 23 and 67, also received between them a heart, two sets of lungs and one single lung, over the course of 36 hours at Royal Papworth Hospital
A team of more than 40 staff, including five surgeons, were involved with several coming in on their days off.Â
Transplant co-ordinator Sadie Von Joel, who worked a 27-hour shift as part of the effort, said it was a hospital record to complete so many transplant operations within such a short window of time.
'˜It was a real one-off,'Â she said, adding it was '˜unusual'Â to have so many offers of organs in that period of time and for them to match the recipients.
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Hide AdThe five operations were among 102 heart and lung transplants in the 2017-18 financial year, which was another hospital record.
To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, call 0300 123 23 23, or see www.organdonation.nhs.uk or www.organdonationscotland.org to register online.
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