GIFT OF LIFE FEATURE: HEART patient Dave Beckley's life was saved by a transplant operation.
In 2001, doctors told him he would not live beyond Christmas that year unless a suitable donor was found for him. But the following June he underwent the life-saving operation after an emotional and painful eight-year battle with heart disease.
Now Dave, 58, of Ashton Keynes, has regained his life and is full of praise for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he was treated at a large transplant unit serving the south of the country.
Two years ago it was threatened with closure and Dave campaigned to help save it.
He said: "Without the operation I would not be here now. I have my life back and it is wonderful."
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