Connel couple thank all our NHS lifesavers
A Connel couple have issued a special thanks to NHS lifesavers near and far after a nerve-wracking couple of months.
Lachie MacLean and wife Laura praised staff from ‘top to bottom’ for their care and professionalism despite the huge strain on the Covid front line.
Having suffered a heart attack 20 years ago, Lachie’s health unfortunately took a turn for the worse five months ago as he started to suffer terrible angina attacks.
It has required a round of home visits by doctors, being rushed to hospital twice in an ambulance, medical appointments and having intricate heart operations by specialist surgeons in Glasgow.
Lachie, a familiar sight on his delivery rounds with Argyll Haulage Limited, told The Oban Times: ‘They’ve done me proud, that’s for sure. They have been a lifesaver, I would say so. If I had never got the treatment, I think the old heart would have packed in.’
Lachie, who is originally from Mull, celebrated his 71st birthday last week by being called for a Covid vaccination at the Connel Surgery and he and Laura both regard it ‘the best present’ they could have wished for given the worry of the last few months.
The couple said everyone - paramedics, doctors, nurses, specialists and ambulance drivers - from Connel Surgery to Lorn and Islands Hospital and the Golden Jubilee in Clydebank - have all helped him back on his feet.
Wife of 14 years, Laura said: ‘They’ve gone above and beyond for us and they’ve been so good putting others before themselves with the work they do.
‘They are always so happy and upbeat.
She added: ‘If it wasn’t for the quick response from the paramedics who go above and beyond to carry out their procedures so quickly and professionally, and at the same time being so reassuring and keeping Lachie nice and calm, and all the staff at Oban hospital being so kind and understanding, it could have been a whole different story.
‘It is a very difficult time for everybody just now being in the middle of a pandemic and we can’t thank the staff enough. Thank you so, so much to all NHS staff. You all are amazing.’
This week, Lachie had his third Covid test as he prepared to go into hospital to have stents put in on the left side of his heart.