I survived in Belfast but would have died in Scotland. How can that be right?
Happy couple renew vows
Five years might seem a little soon to renew your marriage vows, but after surviving two life-threatening health alerts, it was the perfect time for Pauline and Guy Lyons to celebrate. Guy, who had undergone successful treatment for lung cancer, survived a potentially fatal stroke in July. He and Pauline renewed their wedding vows at Glasgow’s Boclair House last month, promising to “find new ways to love each other every day”.
We revealed last year how, after collapsing in Belfast, Guy’s life was saved by a thrombectomy – a blood clotremoval procedure withdrawn from Scotland in 2017. Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland is campaigning to bring back the procedure and Guy and Pauline asked guests at their renewal ceremony to donate to charity instead of giving them gifts.
Pauline and Guy, 65, who has also undergone treatment for lung cancer, will donate £1,000 to the Beatson Cancer Charity and Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.
Guy said: “We thoroughly support Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s tireless campaign to bring back thrombectomy to Scotland.
“My thrombectomy was transformational following my near fatal stroke, and I am only too aware that I would have died or at best been left severely disabled and care dependent if I hadn’t been lucky enough to have had this procedure available to me when I took ill in Belfast.
“All Scotland stroke patients should have access to this treatment if they are suitable. “Families should be spared the anguish of loved ones being left far more disabled than necessary as a result of this procedure not currently being available.”
Jane-claire Judson, chief executive of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, welcomed the donation and thanked Guy and Pauline for backing the Bring Back Thrombectomy campaign.
The charity estimates that 600 people a year would benefit from the thrombectomy procedure, which removes blood clots from the brain.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that a Thrombectomy Advisory Group is developing a national planning framework for its provision and a report is due in spring.