Strike mayhem Heart op patient risks being stranded

A man who has undergone heart surgery could be left stranded almost 100 miles away from home after his operation, due to the ongoing rail strikes.

Graham Benton, 48, was forced to pay £165 for a taxi to take him from Portsmouth to London for the operation yesterday and now faces spending hundreds more to get home again.

The IT sales manager was originally told on Friday his operation would be cancelled due to the strikes, but the hospital phoned him back the same day and said they had “jumped the gun” and reinstated his appointment.

As Mr Benton does not own a car, and no trains were running between Portsmouth and London, he had no alternative except to pay for a taxi at 5.30am to make the appointment.

Yesterday morning, prior to his surgery, Mr Benton said he was fortunate he could afford to pay the £165 to get him there, but was unsure how he would be able to get home.

“Obviously, I get that they’ve got the right to strike, [but] I think the five-day disruption is just excessive for the first industrial action,” he said.

The 48-yearold has an irregular heart rhythm and is undergoing ventricular ablation surgery.