'I used pension to pay for vital heart surgery'

Dad says he was forced' to spend £25k of his pension savings to save his life

- By HELENA VESTY

A 'desperate' Royal Navy veteran says he felt like he was 'forced' to pay more than £25,000 out of his pension savings for life-saving heart surgery - after being told he faced months on NHS waiting lists.

Neil Wogan told the Manchester Evening News he felt like he could die at any minute and would often go to sleep fearing he would never wake up.

The 52-year-old former weapons engineer, from Wigan, first went to the GP in May 2023 as he had a feeling of tight pressure in his chest.

He had an ECG within a few weeks, but he didn't find out if it had identified a problem, and he had to wait four months to see a cardiologist.

"For nearly 30 years, I've served my country: in the Navy, for my local council, and for the police. I've helped a lot of people, so I honestly feel really let down by the system."

His symptoms became so painful that in July 2023, he had to go to A&E and was admitted to hospital for nearly a week.

It was then revealed by doctors that Neil, a police community support officer, had a failing heart and would urgently need life-saving open heart surgery.

Eventually, he discovered there was a problem with his heart but the wait for vital surgery would be months.

Neil told the M.E.N: "Before the surgery, I felt like a ticking time bomb, and that at any moment, my heart could fail. Every night I went to sleep thinking I might never wake up.

But Neil says he was told that he would be lucky to get the operation before Christmas four months later due to the size of the heart care waiting list. Now, after paying more than £25,000 out of his personal pension fund to have the surgery before it was too late, he is campaigning to fix an 'unprecedented crisis' in heart care.