Surgeon hears Morgan heart appeal

I want young people to get into that field, to understand their heart is important and that we have to look after our hearts for ourselves Sir Magdi Yacoub, with Rhodri Morgan

Rhodri Morgan has delivered a literally heartfelt plea to others to maintain a healthy lifestyle as he welcomed surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub to Wales.

Renowned heart specialist Sir Magdi was at Duffryn High School, Newport, to deliver the first Morgan Lecture, named after the Welsh first minister.

Mr Morgan, 69, underwent cardiac surgery last year for a blocked artery.

He joked that had things turned out differently, it could have been the Morgan Memorial Lecture instead.

Introducing Sir Magdi, Mr Morgan said: "Why should people have to undergo the experience I had before I developed a healthy lifestyle?"

The Welsh assembly leader is now three stones lighter, and is an ardent advocate of a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

He described the "strange experience" of being told he needed an operation to open up an artery which was 95% blocked.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER The British Heart Foundation says a well balanced diet can improve general health and protect against some cancers and diabetes It recommends a diet containing plenty of fruit and vegetables and starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta and rice. It also says a healthy diet should be low in fat (especially saturated fat), salt and sugar. The charity advises too much alcohol can damage the heart muscle, increase blood pressure and may also lead to weight gain.

He said he was told as he was being taken into the operating theatre "if all goes well we will have you out of here in 45 minutes.

"But if all does not go well, well, we'll send you home and there's not much we can do."

"I was lucky I had undamaged heart muscle."

But he said this came despite believing he already had a healthy lifestyle.

He said he was grateful for the skills and dedication of health professionals like Sir Magdi, whom he described as the best heart surgeon in the world.

Mr Morgan described how his wife, Cardiff North MP, Julie Morgan, once witnessed Sir Magdi performing a heart operation and said it seemed to her as if the surgeon's fingers were moving in concert with the classical music playing in the background.

Egyptian-born Professor Sir Magdi has a former pupil of Duffryn High School in Newport on his team.

Sir Magdi was involved in the first heart transplant in the UK and has carried out more of the operations than anyone else in the world.

Among them was Derrick Morris, from Swansea, who survived until 2005, 27 years after his heart transplant.

Rhodri Morgan, with his MP wife Julie in 2007, before his heart treatment

Echoing Mr Morgan, Sir Magdi said there was no contradiction between hi-tech medicine and the need for people to maintain a healthy lifestyle as a way of preventing heart disease.

To a packed school hall, he said: "I want young people to get into that field, to understand their heart is important and that we have to look after our hearts for ourselves.

"And if you do not do anything you will become a victim yourself."

He added: "You have to look after it otherwise you will not have a good life."

He later said he swam regularly when in the UK, and when he was travelling around the world giving lectures would often stand at airports and walk in his hotel room to ensure he had some exercise.

The Morgan Lectures will form a series and will be given by consultant cardiologists to students in years 12 and 13 of every secondary school in Wales.