PICTURE: Laura Crouchley Photography

A HAREFIELD Hospital heart failure patient was able to walk his daughter down the aisle after becoming the first person in the UK to be fitted with a machine which helps the heart pump.

Father-of-two Ross Swift, 54, from Devon, had the Sunshine Heart C-Pulse Heart Assist System implanted at the hospital in Hill End Road just in time to be at Hayley’s side on her big day.

Mr Swift is the first UK patient to join a European study looking at the long-term impact of the C-Pulse system on patients with heart failure.

He suffered a near-fatal cardiac arrest in 2002 while on holiday with Hayley, his wife Paula and son Matthew.

He had a number of stents fitted and has been treated for several years with medication, but has been unable to work or have an active life.

His condition steadily worsened and he became house-bound.

In June, Mr Ross had the life-changing operation.

André Simon, director of transplantation at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, spoke Mr Swift and his family through the operation.

“I wanted to walk my daughter down the aisle,” said Mr Swift.

“She’s been a rock for our family through all of this and I wanted to be there for her.”

The operation was a success.

“Immediately I could tell there was a difference,” he said.

“When I breathed, it felt clearer. I had more colour in my face and my family said my attitude changed.

“I feel more positive.”

He said he can finally do the day-to-day activities which used to wear him out.

“Of course, having to carry the box around is not easy and I haven’t forgotten that I am still waiting for a transplant.

“But after I had the operation, Mr Simon came in to see me and said ‘you’re part of the family now’. That meant a lot.

“The team at Harefield is constantly looking at how to make the situation better for me.”

Mr Swift proudly walked Hayley down the aisle on Saturday, August 9 and the following day celebrated his granddaughter’s first birthday.

He said: “The wedding was amazing. Everybody was crying knowing what we had been through. Walking my daughter down the aisle was something a few months ago we didn’t believe was possible.”

Up to fifty patients across Europe will be implanted with the heart assist device in the study.

The C-Pulse system is intended to treat patients with less severe, though serious, heart failure symptoms, who may not be suitable for a mechanical heart pump.

An inflatable cuff is placed around the main artery arising from the heart and a heartbeat sensor wire is placed on the heart.

A ‘balloon’ is connected to a tube, which connects to a battery-powered source that is carried by the patient in a bag.

During the resting phase of the heartbeat, the cuff inflates, compressing the aorta and improving blood flow to the heart muscle.

Immediately prior to ejection of blood by the heart, the cuff deflates, reducing the workload of the heart.

In 2011 Mr Swift was fitted with a small device to help treat his dangerously abnormal heart rhythm.

But earlier this year his consultant told him his only option was a heart transplant.

Ross was referred to Harefield Hospital and following his first appointment in March 2014, was immediately put on the transplant list.

To become an organ donor visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.