THE first operation of its kind in the country has saved the life of a pensioner who collapsed at the wheel of his van.

The operation, a cardiac resynchronised utim-defibrillator, was carried out on 76-year-old Derek Wakefield by a team of five, led by consultant cardiologist Paul Foley at Great Western Hospital on Wednesday.

Derek, of Upper Seagry, near Malmesbury, was admitted to hospital last week after collapsing while driving his van towards Chiseldon with his wife Primrose. The new operation acts in the same way as a pacemaker, but has been specifically engineered to enable patients to undergo MRI scans after being fitted – something which has never been done in Britain before.

Derek, who has an enlarged heart and was suffering an extremely slow heart beat when admitted to hospital, said: “They saved my life, Paul is the best, I can’t thank him and his team enough.

“Fortunately my wife was with me at the time, if she hadn’t been I am pretty sure I would be in a box now.

“I remember collapsing under the steering wheel. We called an ambulance and they were there within three minutes. The care I have received has been brilliant.

“They told me after it had been fitted that it was the first of its kind in the country. I am over the moon and I feel great now.”

The new device was only launched nationally on Tuesday and it wasn’t until after it had been carried out that Mr Foley learnt he had inserted the very first one.

“Fortunately the procedure for me is no different, the device itself has just been re-engineered,” he said.

“Implanting it is exactly the same, and it took an hour and 15 minutes but this can vary from patient to patient.

“When Derek came into hospital his heart rate was very slow, only about 20 beats per minute compared to the normal rate of between 60 to 80, so because of that we had to speed his heart rate up with a temporary pacing system, but that sat outside his body and he needed a permanent solution.

“We identified the heart wasn’t pumping as well as it should and we wanted a pacemaker with leads both sides of the heart to help it pump. Because he is at slightly higher risk of having heart murmurs, it acts as a defibrillator as well.

“The novelty of this is that it allows him to have MRI scans – previously this could scramble the device as the radiation is so strong. This is a great advance because a lot of these patients will go on to need scans and until now, they couldn’t do so.

“We are absolutely delighted to be the first to carry out this operation, it is a real tribute to the hospital and our cardiology team who have worked really hard.”