I am so grateful for the technology, skill, commitment, kindness, persistence, pride and professionalism of the whole team that worked on me. I am their poster boy now and am glad to be so! Thankfully, NHS England have recently held a long consultation on offering this surgery to patients like me in England and Wales as part of clinical trials, and I really pray this will come off. Meanwhile, I feel so indebted to those who prayed and supported Diane and me as I underwent this radical new surgery.
This passage in the ancient hymnal of the people of Israel stood out for me recently: "we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Psalm 66:5). For 22 years the fire and water of the most intense agony known to human beings alternately roasted and then sloshed over me, threatening to engulf me again and again, but God has heard my cry for relief and I am grateful.
I also feel so moved for the plight of my fellow-sufferers, and the brave people who are featured in this documentary about heart transplant, some of whom died in the making of it. Thank God that medicine and surgery have advanced so far, but the human condition remains fragile and much more needs to be done. At the end of the day what we see on the screen here is a tribute to compassion and human competence. Standing behind and beyond it is a God who loves to fix and redeem, and where damage is so great that fixing here on earth may not be an option, to redeem and receive us into his eternal, loving care.
We plan to celebrate the anniversary of this great mercy in somewhere very sunny, where the sea is warm and the food is hot! Yippee!
