Man's charity walk after surviving 'silent killer'

James Houghton underwent three major operations within five months

"It's a really, really serious condition. They call it a silent killer."

James Houghton was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm after being rushed to the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham in May 2021.

He underwent three major operations to save his life in the five months that followed, including two open heart surgeries.

While on medication for life, the 47-year-old from Hucknall in Nottinghamshire is now in good health and will be walking 25km with his family on Saturday to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

The father-of-two explained how he had been getting ready to go to bed when he started to feel unwell and noticed a "strange sensation" in his chest.

"It was just a pain when I inhaled," he said.

"I had to have the shallowest breaths in order to not feel that pain, which is obviously not normal.

"But me being a typical bloke, I didn't really do anything about that until the wife realised I was still doing it the following morning and that's when we called the ambulance."

After his first open heart surgery, James sent a selfie to his family to tell them he "made it"

After being diagnosed at the QMC, James was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital where he had to have open heart surgery to repair the aneurysm and a faulty bicuspid valve, which regulates blood flow from the heart to the aorta.

He returned home, but quickly deteriorated after developing endocarditis, a heart infection.

Within six weeks, James was back in hospital for a second open heart surgery, this time to have a mechanical valve fitted.

His dad, Paul Houghton, said renal experts did not think he would survive another operation, adding "but there was no choice".

"He was then in a coma, which was normal, and we expected him to come out after two or three days," he explained.

"He didn't, and after nine days his poor wife was asked to go in and say goodbye to him because he was that ill and the doctors really didn't think he would pull through.

Paul added: "Miraculously, he survived it."

James and Paul will complete the fundraising challenge together

But James's hospital treatment was not over yet - the femoral artery burst in his leg as a complication from his previous surgery.

He needed a third operation to repair it and save his life once again.

He told the BBC he feels "crazy lucky" to have survived.

"[I] can't really fathom it when I think about it afterwards," James said.

"I was on a natural high for about a year afterwards. Every petal, every rainbow, every cloud was amazing.

"It was a brilliant, brilliant way to feel and that all came from just recognising how lucky I was."

The NHS says aortic aneurysms are most commonly seen in men over 65.

Inder Birdi, the consultant who performed both of James's open heart surgeries, said: "I've been doing cardiac surgery for 25 to 30 years now, I have never seen an aneurysm so large in such a young patient.

"For a man in his early 40s to have such a huge aneurysm and then ultimately survive it and be doing what he's doing today, is a very rare thing. Probably the only time I've seen it in my clinical career."

Since James's diagnosis, his immediate family have all had heart scans.

A potentially similar heart defect has been found in his younger sister and one of his sons. They will now be monitored to ensure their hearts remain healthy.

Three generations of James's family will take part in the Peak District Ultra Challenge on Saturday.