A Bedford shop-owner has praised the “incredible” care he received from the NHS after surviving two heart attacks and undergoing major open heart surgery earlier this month.
And he credits Nurse Sandra at the Goldington Avenue GP surgery with spotting the signs that saved his life.
Gary Hooper, the 62-year-old owner of the popular GCH Fishmongers on Newnham Street, thought he was pretty fit, having completely reversed a diabetes diagnosis in 2015, and endeavouring to walk 10 miles every day.
Attending a routine asthma review at the Goldington Avenue GP surgery in March, Gary mentioned to Nurse Sandra that he’d been experiencing chest pains and breathlessness.
Gary was adamant that nothing was wrong, but Nurse Sandra immediately said he needed to have an electrocardiogram (EGC).
“She asked for an ECG, and I said, ‘You’re joking, I’ve just walked here to my appointment, there’s nothing wrong with me,’” Gary recalled.
However, after carrying out the test, Nurse Sandra became concerned.
“She spent ages looking at the results and then said it looks like you’ve had a heart attack,” he said.
Sandra urged Gary to seek immediate help if he experienced any chest pains.
Just weeks later, on 28 March, Gary woke at 2am suffering from severe chest pains and drenched in sweat.
“I went back to sleep,” he said. “Turns out I’d had a second heart attack.”
Ignoring the signs
Despite the warning signs, Gary still carried on as normal the following day, even going out for lunch at The Pantry.
But while walking back to the car afterwards, he struggled to breathe.
“Still being stoical, I thought, ‘I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow,’” he said.
When Gary arrived at Bedford Hospital on Monday, 30 March, staff immediately rushed him to Coronary Care.
“They said the enzymes showed I’d had at least one heart attack,” he explained.
Further investigations revealed that Gary had a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), a congenital heart defect present since birth, where the aortic valve has only two leaflets instead of the normal three.
After two weeks on Bedford Hospital’s cardiac care unit, Gary was transferred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London on 29 April, where he underwent open heart surgery on 1 May.
The operation lasted eight hours.
“It was completely brutal,” Gary said.
“My wife Caroline and family came in to visit me the day after the operation and said how well I looked, but I felt terrible.
“The drugs gave me paranoia and hallucinations – at one point I thought I was at Clapham Golf Club.”
“Nurse Sandra went above and beyond”
However, just seven days after surgery, Gary was allowed to return home to continue his recovery surrounded by family.
“Caroline has been an absolute diamond,” he said. “My sons George and Ollie have been running the show at the shop, and I’m so grateful for their help.”
Gary also paid an emotional tribute to Nurse Sandra and the NHS staff who cared for him throughout his ordeal.
“I wanted my story to be told because all you get from people is how awful the NHS is, but when you are lucky enough to come across someone like Nurse Sandra, you realise that is not the case.
“She went above and beyond, despite my protestations, and I am so grateful she persuaded me to go to the hospital,” he said.
“I have got so much respect for the NHS. The ordeal has been horrendous, but I am so glad to be alive.
“It’s given me a different perspective on life. I’m looking forward to taking things a bit easier.”
