Familiar face returns after life-saving heart operation

A NORTH Devon Big Issue seller has been welcomed back to the town centre pitch where he’s stood for nine years - after undergoing lifesaving heart surgery.

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Tony Flynn has sold the Big Issue outside Marks & Spencer in Barnstaple since 2016

Tony Flynn, has sold the Big Issue outside Marks & Spencer in Barnstaple since 2016. But he stepped away after undergoing triple bypass surgery in May.

Rumours circulated that he would never return and had retired, and Tony himself was unsure whether he'd be able to continue selling the magazine.

He said: “They admitted me straight away with severely blocked arteries and I had a bit of a bad turn one night.

“I think I skipped a queue because you wait in a queue for your operation.

“It’s been three months now but I still get very tired and my body's still very numb. The thing is I was indoors from April when it happened and I only came back about a month ago”