Dad's lifesaving op hit by NHS delays

Ceri, from Aberdare, had to wait six weeks for lifesaving heart surgery due to pressures on the NHS in Wales

- INDIGO JONES Reporter

A FORMER police officer had to wait six weeks for double bypass surgery because of pressures on the NHS.

Ceri, 68, from Aberdare, reached the top of the waiting list for urgent and necessary lifesaving heart surgery but faced delays.

Ceri, a father-of-two, had unstable angina and had been suffering with pain in his chest for more than a year.

It became noticeably worse during a rugby trip to watch the Six Nations in Edinburgh with his son Iestyn.

Ceri told BBC fly-on-the-wall series Saving Lives in Cardiff, set in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff: "A lot of steep hills in Edinburgh and I was gasping for breath. The pains were particularly bad, really severe and my son Iestyn was mega-concerned and probably a little bit scared as well, because I was.

"He made me promise that as soon as I came home I went to see the doctor and one of the nurses said '99.9% certain that you have angina."

He described having heart problems as being "debilitating" as he used to enjoy going for long walks but his condition was making him out of breath just walking up the stairs.

While wearing an Ospreys rugby shirt, he joked that he was "looking forward to being able to watch the rugby and doing a bit of shouting and cheering, because I haven't been able to do that".

He added: "I've had to go to the rugby and sit quietly whilst the Ospreys were scoring, and that's not natural."