A GLASGOW dad who spent almost 300 days in hospital waiting for a heart transplant has urged the public to adhere to restrictions saying: “Every day is a day closer,” to the end of lockdown.
Mike Hanlon, 57, is in the shielded group of people most vulnerable to coronavirus because of his transplant surgery. It is likely he would require intensive care support if he succumbed to it.
The dad-of-two said it was “tough” to be back in isolation and confined to his home in Knightswood and admitted he had flouted government restrictions by going for a walk.
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Mike, who is married to Lillias and has two sons, said that learning that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in intensive care that same night had, “hammered home that the virus has no boundaries.”
Mike was desperately ill at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank in March 2017, when medics received a call that a donor heart had become available.
The donor was Ben Pedley, from Reading, who died two days after he was involved in a freak cycling accident on March 20 involving a pedestrian. Mike met with Ben's mother the following year in an emotionally charged meeting.
Since the transplant, Mike has also been treated for prostate cancer but has refused to let this latest setback get him down.
Mike said: “I said after my isolation in the Jubilee after 299 days waiting on the gift of life, never again.
“Three years later it’s back but it’s a different goal this time, I now accept I need to stay in to survive.
“A few days ago I did a Catherine Calderwood and went out for a long walk.
“I apologised on Facebook for this to my friend. I think the fact Boris Johnston went into intensive care that night hammered home how this horrible virus has no boundaries and how I put myself and potentially others at risk not forgetting the additional pressures on our wonderful NHS heroes.”
“My motto when I was in hospital waiting for a transplant was, ‘Every day is a day closer’, and I say it to Lillias and the boys every day.
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“Everyone should think that way cause it’s a fact. The more we isolate the less this virus can spread.”
Mike said that thinking about all the things he will do with his family when lockdown ends was helping him through isolation.
He said: “Michael my son went out for a run yesterday into the West End past my local The Lismore.
“It would have been jumping yesterday [Tuesday] with the jazz day.
“I’m the vice-captain at Clober Golf Club and I can’t wait to get back playing again.
“Everyone must think positives or your mental health can be affected and follow the guidelines.”
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