I owe my life to the NHS after emergency, says MP
McDONALD ‘IN AWE’ OF HOSPITAL TEAM
MIDDLESBROUGH’S MP has said he owes the NHS his life after he was admitted to hospital for an emergency surgery.
Andy McDonald MP has said he is “humbled” by the skill and dedication of the surgical and care teams at James Cook University Hospital and he is ready to return to full duties.
The MP underwent emergency surgery after being admitted to hospital in May. In an announcement on May 31 he said the surgery went well but he faced a lengthy recovery period and would not be able to attend Parliament or constituency appointments.
Mr McDonald, elected in
2012 as Labour MP for Middlesbrough, has said he can now return to full duties thanks to the work of Mr Anil Reddy and his team who carried out the surgery. In an emotional statement, the MP thanked the hospital staff and the “somewhat stretched” NHS.
He said: “I am in awe of what Mr Reddy and the entire surgical and care teams have done for me and words cannot sufficiently express my overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am humbled by their skill and dedication, and I am forever in their debt.
“I owe my life to the NHS and specifically to JCUH. I know the staff are extremely tired after all the travails of Covid but my goodness, they continue to step up day in day out. They are amazing!
“There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think of the post war pioneers in Attlee’s government who so determinedly established our “free at the point of need” health service especially in the face of such deep political opposition at the time.
“I vow to redouble my commitment to supporting our magnificent - if somewhat stretched - NHS, because as Nye Bevan himself said ‘We will always have an NHS so long as there are people to fight for it.’”
Before his election, Mr McDonald was a serious injury solicitor. During the 1990s he was a local councillor and he is also a governor at Middlesbrough
College.