Ron's present can't be beaten (From Swindon Advertiser)

Ron's present can't be beaten

2:00pm Thursday 1st January 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

THE Advertiser’s first Gift of Life champion is now poised to go on national television for the second time.

Ron Carter, 60, of Helmsdale, Haydon Wick, who had a life saving heart transplant in May, has been recovering well since was first approached to appear on BBC Breakfast.

Following his starring role in a series called Lifesavers, which featured his heart transplant procedure, Ron will again appear on television next week.

He is part of a series of pieces on people’s life changing experiences in the last year, his being called ‘Born Again’.

“This is getting silly now isn’t it?” joked Ron.

“People say ‘you are famous’, I say I’m not, it’s the people that do the transplants that are.”

Ron and wife Jenny, 58, travelled to Kent on Christmas Eve to be with their children and two grandchildren Millie and Amber over the festive period and it was one Christmas he said he was really looking forward to.

“I’d been on the transplant waiting list at that time last year for six months and people used to say I hope you get a heart for Christmas, but you didn’t want a heart over Christmas because it meant somebody else’s Christmas was ruined, but it’s different this year.”

The past seven months have been very positive for Ron, however, every time he becomes ill it is a worry.

His medication suppresses his immune system making him more susceptible to illness and even a rise in temperature could indicate that his body is rejecting the new heart.

“Because I’ve had nothing wrong before I’ve got nothing to measure it by,” said Ron.

“I’m going to have rejection tablets for the rest of my life because my body’s always going to be trying to reject the heart until the day I die.”

Despite this it is the little things that most people take for granted that both Jenny and Ron appreciate the most.

“We went to Weymouth last year and he watched me walk along the prom from the hotel window,” said Jenny.

“We went down the other week to see my aunt and it was lovely that he could walk along the prom this time.

“It’s the little things that make you realise what it has been all about.”

In the future Ron hopes to take up tennis again once he passes the critical yearly stage.

But he has not forgotten about the medical staff that made his new lease of life possible.

He hopes to be involved in some capacity in a charity like the British Heart Foundation and is still a passionate supporter of organ donation.

“I think if you ask people would they be prepared to give their organs 90 per cent would say yes, but 50 per cent sign up,” he said.

“For me that’s a good enough reason to say yes everyone should agree to donate their organs.”

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)