Joe Burnside (1 February 1930 – October 2008) was Britain's longest surviving heart transplant patient.
In February 1980 Burnside suffered his second heart attack in 18 months. At the time he was running a carpet shop in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
.
Although he survived the heart attack his prognosis was poor and he was not expected to live for very long. His wife fought for him to be able to have a heart transplant and his local GP contacted
Harefield Hospital
Harefield Hospital is a health institution in Harefield, London Borough of Hillingdon, England. It is managed by the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The first hospital on the site was the No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital es ...
at
Hillingdon
Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
in north London.
Professor (now Sir)
Magdi Yacoub
Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub ( ; born 16 November 1935) is an Egyptian-British retired professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Imperial College London, best known for his early work in repairing heart valves with surgeon Donald Ross, adapting the ...
conducted the operation that took place on 1 July 1980. His new heart came from 18-year-old Peter Everett who had died after an athletics event.
The operation gave Burnside an additional 28 years of life allowing him to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary – he had married on Christmas Day 1957.
After his operation Burnside became a powerful advocate for organ donation, urging more people to sign up to the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
Organ Donor Register.
He is survived by his wife and by their two sons and one daughter.
Sky News on his death
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References
External links
20 years with a new heart
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnside, Joe
1930 births
2008 deaths
Heart transplant recipients