A WOMBWELL man has had a change of heart this Christmas - literally.

Joseph Barker, 27, from Hall Street, underwent a life-changing heart transplant at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital in January.

He was born with complex severe congenital heart disease, meaning part of his heart was back to front. He has spent most of his life in and out of hospital, unwell and fighting crippling exhaustion caused by his condition.

Joseph had been on the active transplant list for four years before mum Vickie contacted the Freeman, pioneers in heart surgery, because his condition was deteriorating, and he was admitted.

The family had to move up to Newcastle to a hospital-linked flat in November last year where they continued to stay until March when he was allowed to come home.

Vickie said their meal last Christmas Day was in the hospital canteen. But this year Joseph will be celebrating at home once again, and he says the transplant is the greatest gift anyone could have given him.

Joseph said: “When I found out about the heart, it was a shock, but a happy shock. It was the third I had been offered and the first viable one.

“Before my operation I was tired every day. I spent hours in bed and couldn’t do anything, I was blue.

‘Now it feels a lot better, in a lot of different ways. I have basically been set free when I had my transplant.”

Joseph’s transplant operation took 14 hours, almost double the usual length due to

complications during surgery.

He said the two months he was waiting for a heart in hospital was by no means the longest.

He said: “The longest person they have had there waiting was there for three years.

“If I could speak to my donor or their family I would say thank you for my new life. It is a priceless gift and nothing can repay it. It is the best gift you could ever ask for.

“I was dying before I had the transplant. Now I am on tablets that suppress my immune system, and I will be on them for life, but they don’t bother me. I have no regrets. I feel lucky to survive.”

Mum Vickie said it will be a long road to recovery for her son, with most transplant patients taking two to three years to recover.

She said: “It is a long process and we are still at the Freeman monthly for check ups and biopsies. Hopefully under consultation and medical appointments, they do expect people to try and lead as normal a life as possible.

“It gives you hope. We owe the donor and his surgery team everything. This will be our first Christmas at home with a new heart and it will be a special one.”

The subject of organ donation is hotly debated at the moment, with a government proposal for it to be an opt-out rather than opt-in system.

Joseph’s donor was a 25-year-old man who had opted in to the register.

Vickie contacted his family to thank them but hasn’t heard any response, something which she completely understands.

Both Joseph and his mum support the idea of a change.

Vickie said: “In today’s day and age, with the medicine and technology available, you would think we would already be in an opt-out system. To me it is just recycling. When you have gone, you don’t need your organs, but you could still use them to give someone else another chance at life.”