Sheffield couple both receive life saving treatment at the same hospital department with four years of each other

Professor Edward Winter, aged 69, an emeritus professor of the Physiology of Exercise at Sheffield Hallam University, began suffering with chest pains in March and was referred by his GP to see consultant cardiologist, Dr Rachel Orme at the Cardiothoracic Centre at the Northern General Hospital.

After an initial consultation, Dr Orme arranged for Edward to undergo a coronary CT scan and an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound scan of the heart.

Edward said: “The morning after my CT scan I received a call from Dr Orme and as I was due back in for further tests that afternoon, I knew it didn’t sound good. Dr Orme said she would meet me at my echocardiogram appointment that day.

“She informed me that one of my coronary arteries was seriously narrowed and that she was booking me in to have a procedure to have a stent inserted. She then asked me how I was feeling and when I replied that I had had chest pain a day or so before and had called the paramedics, she said she was admitting you for the procedure then. My stent was inserted the next day.”

Dr Rachel Orme, consultant c ardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The scan the previous day had identified that Edward’s left coronary artery was 95 per cent blocked meaning that he had a very significant narrowing in that artery. These narrowings can lead to potentially fatal heart attacks.

“Once I heard he had been having significant chest pain I immediately arranged to admit him to the Chesterman Unit so we could treat his coronary narrowing.”

Having a stent fitted involves using a balloon to stretch open a narrowed or blocked artery and inserting a short wire-mesh tube into the artery to allow blood to flow more freely.

Edward said: “Remarkably, within 48 hours of being literally, a hair’s-width from catastrophe, I had been admitted, treated, discharged and was on walk to my local newsagents to buy our lottery tickets. Those tickets were not winners, but I had just won the lottery of life.”

Edward’s story is made all the more remarkable by the fact that the same team had given his wife, Anne, life saving treatment four years ago.

In May 2015, Anne suffered a heart attack whilst the couple were gardening. Edward realised matters were serious and phoned immediately for an ambulance.

Within minutes, a first responder arrived, followed shortly after by an ambulance and two more paramedics. They stabilised Anne in their living room at home and then took her to the Coronary Care Unit at Northern General Hospital.

Upon arrival at hospital, Anne had an angiogram which showed there was a serious narrowing of one of her coronary arteries, and she too immediately had a stent fitted by Dr Ever Grech, consultant interventional cardiologist.

Within only three hours of her heart attack, Anne was recovering on the ward and 72 hours after the incident the couple were in London and preparing to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

Edward said: “Anne and I greatly appreciate what has been done by this department. We both have received excellent, life-saving care from the consultants, the attentive nursing staff, and the whole team in coronary care.

“For nearly 70 years we have been beneficiaries of the National Health Service and continue to be ardent supporters of this jewel in our national crown.”