Mark Serwotka, the leader of the largest civil service union, has had a successful heart transplant operation, with the medical team at Papworth hospital, Cambridgeshire, saying they were very happy about how the new heart was performing.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said the operation at the weekend had gone smoothly. Serwotka was recovering in hospital and would recuperate at home. “This is fantastic news for his family – his wife, Ruth, and children, Imogen and Rhys – and for the union, and we know everyone sends their best wishes,” a PCS statement said.
Serwotka contracted a virus in 2010, his heart failed, and over the past two years he had been kept alive by a heart pump. He was readmitted to hospital in August when the pump developed a clot and his doctors placed him on the urgent transplant list.
The union said: “[We] send our heartfelt thanks and admiration to all the team at Papworth who have provided world-class care and kept Mark’s spirits up during the last three months. Mark’s family [has] also asked us to thank all those people who have sent cards and messages over the past few months. They have really appreciated the support and it has given them a big boost during this time.”
Ruth Serwotka tweeted: “Mark recovering well from heart transplant op. Words inadequate, but so much gratitude to skilled, dedicated NHS staff of Papworth hospital. And nothing will ever adequately express my overwhelming thanks to the family of a stranger who in their loss have allowed us a future.”
Serwotka, 53, is one of the most popular and active trade union leaders. He contracted a virus six years ago and has described taking a walk in woods close to home, when his dog came back to him smelling of something foul. He recalled washing the dog down and the next day finding his face and legs grotesquely swollen.
A week later he was rushed to hospital with a heart rate of 220 beats a minute. After weeks of investigation it was established that he had contracted a virus that had caused his heart to massively inflate and swell.
When the swelling subsided it emerged that his heart had been irreparably damaged. He was fitted with an electronic device that pumped blood around his heart and which he carried in a small bag with a battery pack and plug socket. As he waited for a heart transplant, Serwotka continued to lead the union.
Mark Serwotka has heart transplant at Papworth
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