Heart transplant patient urges people to stay indoors

A heart transplant patient who spent nearly 300 days in hospital has urged the public to comply with restrictions during the coronavirus lockdown.

Mike Hanlon, 58, was desperately ill at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, as he spent 299 days waiting for a crucial heart transplant.

The father-of-two, from Knightswood, Glasgow, is among the shielded group of those most vulnerable to the virus – due to his transplant surgery in 2017.

He said it was hard going to be back in isolation after his lengthy hospital stay, but “every day is a day closer” till the lockdown is over.

Mr Hanlon 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.

‘The more we isolate the less this virus can spread.’
Mike Hanlon

“My motto when I was in hospital waiting for a transplant was ‘every day is a day closer’.

“Everyone should think that way because it’s a fact.

“The more we isolate the less this virus can spread.”

After close to a year in hospital, in late March 2017 medics received a call that a donor heart had become available.

Mr Hanlon, a keen golfer, said that thinking about all the things he will do with his family when the lockdown ends has been helping him through isolation.

He said: “Everyone must think positives or your mental health can be affected and follow the guidelines.”