A Cheshire horticulturalist who was treated at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is saying thank you with specially named flowers.
Keith Jones named a rose bush after the hospital’s ‘Heartfelt Thanks’ campaign. He is also making donations from the sales of these rose bushes.
For every rose bush sold at £20, £5 will be donated to the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Charity.
Keith underwent complex surgery a year ago after a cardiac arrest left his heart damaged.
He was having dizzy spells and was told his condition would deteriorate without the surgery.
The 62-year-old was suffering from aortic stenosis which narrows the outflow valve of the heart.
Cardiac Consultant, Mr Andrew Muir, carried out a minimally invasive procedure which removed his severely narrowed aortic valve and replaced it with a mechanical prosthesis.
Mr Muir said: “Replacing the aortic valve though a small incision through the upper half of the breastbone rather than the whole sternum allows patients to recover more swiftly after surgery.
‘‘Patients need to stay in hospital for a shorter time and are returning to normal activity more quickly.’
“Mr Jones told us he was back to work two days after getting out of hospital when we contacted him for his review appointment. It is excellent to hear his good health continues.”
Keith runs C&K Rose Growers in Tarvin near Chester and his blooms are sold nationally and abroad.
Keith said: ‘‘I was very nervous because it meant opening my heart and putting in a metal aortic valve replacement, but Mr Muir was absolutely brilliant and all the hospital staff were wonderful – the team is out of this world, the treatment and the way they looked after me was superb.
“I was back at work very quickly; I wanted to do something to show how grateful I was, which is why I thought of renaming a rose.
‘‘I chose a really good variety, a pink floribunda which grows to two to three feet and flowers from June till November.’’
The roses will soon be growing in Regents Park, London. An order was placed for 180 of the ‘Heartfelt Thanks’ variety, to be planted in February.
The roses can be ordered online here.
