by Jim Lyness, ARC NWC Public Advisor

What a difference a transplant makes!

My name is Jim, I used to be fairly active and healthy, however, in 2018 my heart failure worsened reducing my physical ability to the extent I was struggling to walk and climb stairs. To adapt to this change I purchased a stairlift and mobility scooter.

In March 2019 I was transferred from Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital to
Wythenshawe Hospital. After a three day assessment I was told I needed a heart transplant, this came as a big shock to me. In August 2020 I received my fourth call saying a heart was available and did I still want it.

Without hesitation I said yes. After an eight hour operation I eventually woke up to life with my ‘new’ heart. Recovery was a challenge but I came home after almost six weeks in hospital. Three weeks later I returned to hospital and stayed in for another three weeks due medication issues.

Returning home a second time I started to increase my fitness by daily accompanied short walks gradually increasing the distance until I did a five mile solo walk on my six month anniversary. My goal was to be able to walk around all day when on holiday so felt this would be sufficient to do that.

I then started doing small diy jobs increasing to larger projects such as finishing off my pergola. In June 2022 I became a Public Advisor on the Renal HF project, which aims to improve the care pathway for heart failure patients by predicting kidneyfailure. I initially worked on the WP1 which developed an algorithm to highlight concerns with blood test results. This was my way of giving back to the NHS. I volunteered at the British Transplant Games in 2022 and in 2023 I joined a local gym to increase my physical strength, this enabled me to attend the British Transplant Games the same year competing and volunteering. In 2024 I volunteered and competed, this time I won a gold medal in the 200m along with a silver in the Archery and bronze in the 5k walk.

In January 2025, I joined ARC NWC to expand my knowledge and also with a view to assisting on another project. Joining ARC has given me a sense of community and I’ve met some very nice people. I’ve attended many meetings since then, online and face to face. I attended the British Transplant Games in August this year competing/volunteering and won a gold medal in the
200m.

Why am I telling you this? Because none of this would have been possible without organ donation and the kind family who allowed this to go ahead at a time of great sadness and loss in their lives. This saved my life! I’m sure you would accept an organ transplant if you needed one so please make sure you tell your family your wishes. Make sure they say YES to organ donation just like my donor family did.