NI Health: Belfast man in eight-month 'emergency' heart surgery wait
- Published
After an 8 month wait for an 'emergency' heart operation, Damien McNulty finally has a date for his surgery
A west Belfast man has been rushed to hospital after collapsing at home during an eight-month wait for emergency heart surgery.
Damien McNulty, 40, has an aortic aneurysm - a bulge in the wall of the major blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body.
It is potentially life-threatening.
The Belfast Trust said it wanted to "sincerely apologise to Mr McNulty for the length of time he has had to wait for his surgery".
In a statement, the trust added: "We do not underestimate the anxiety and distress this may cause and we deeply regret this."
Mr McNulty's condition deteriorated in recent weeks and on Tuesday he woke up with a new symptom, a tightness across his chest.
His wife Marion said he then took a "really bad turn" in front of their three young children and an ambulance was called.
She said the medical team could not "believe a man with an aneurysm that large was left at home untreated for so long".
Mr McNulty was admitted to hospital and is now scheduled to have his surgery on Monday 11 April.
Speaking from his hospital bed Damien said his wife Marion would not let him go down without a fight
Speaking from his hospital bed to the Nolan Show on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr McNulty, a father-of-three, said he would "not go down without a fight".
His aneurysm was diagnosed five years ago and at that time he said he was advised it was no cause for concern.
However new scans last summer revealed it had grown to the size of a golf ball and surgery was needed immediately.
Mrs McNulty said eight months passed and there was no date for the operation.
"He was a very healthy 40-year-old male, He worked full time and went to the gym most evenings," she said.
"Now, he has no weight on him. His muscle is gone, he can barely walk the stairs without being breathless. He has no quality of life whatsoever.
"He's worked hard for his family, and to see him now. I don't know him. Physically I do not know this man any more", she said.
"Every other week it's a different story. It's Covid or the waiting lists are so long. There's no surgeons available. It's horrendous."
'I will get my surgery'
"I will get my operation. I will return to the man I was. I will not go down without a fight," Mr McNulty said.
"I know Marion will not let me go down without a fight."
'Thankful'
He said he was very thankful for the health care he had received, but said politicians in Northern Ireland needed to "wise up" and help the health service.
"It's just a lack of funding, a lack of government", he said.
"Politicians need to wake up, or this place is going to get worse.
"Many more people like myself, or younger than myself, are going to end up dead or not getting the treatment they deserve."
Mrs McNulty said she was angry their three young girls had to watch their father suffer.
"Has it got to where life doesn't matter? A 40-year-old man's life doesn't matter?
"I am going to fight for my husband. I'm going to fight so another wife, another daughter, doesn't have to go through what we've went through".
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