BETTY IS A RECORD BREAKER
A Fort William lady has set a new Guinness World Record after undergoing pioneering heart surgery more than 50 years ago.
Elizabeth (Betty) Cameron, nee Findlay, has been officially recognised by the global authority on all things record-breaking as the longest survivor of a single artificial heart valve replacement.
The operation to replace her mitral heart valve was carried out on May 21, 1969, at the former Meanskirk Hospital in Glasgow, when she was just 23 years old.
Born in December 1946, Betty began experiencing health problems when she was eight years old. Her records state that she had a case of rheumatic fever then, but she has no recollection of it.
“It must have started then but I don't really remember much,” she told us.
“I started collapsing on a regular basis and was constantly taking cold, flu, bronchiolitis and chest infections.
“We lived in Glasgow at the time, so a lot of this was just put down to the smog, but my mum knew that there was something seriously wrong.
“It turned out that I had a blocked heart valve, something that usually occurs in older people, and at the age of 13 I became the youngest person in Scotland to receive an artificial valve.”
Because of her young age, Betty was told at the time that she would need a replacement valve at some point and in 1969 she returned to Meanskirk to receive it.
“I was more aware of the scale of things this time around and I decided to write a letter to my mother in case something happened. I was so glad to get home afterwards.”
Ambitions to become a nurse and/or a hairdresser had to be knocked on the head for young Betty due
to her condition, although she still managed to sneak out to the dancing, much to the exasperation of her doctors.
Instead she took up office work, which she continued to do throughout her working life, her last post being at the Halifax/Bank of Scotland in Fort William.
In 1973 she married husband Ron and a year later the couple moved up to the Outdoor Capital after spending many happy holidays here.
Betty received a pacemaker in 2011 due to an irregular heartbeat and has also survived breast cancer more recently.
The Covid years also proved a bit of a nightmare for the feisty 76-year-old, but fortunately she managed to avoid it and has now been able to continue her passion for rugby - both Betty and Tom are regular visitors to Banavie - and holidaying around the world. At the time of recording her record, May 26, 2022, Betty had had her “new” valve for 53 years and five days, with the previous record, held by Anne Bell from Banknock in Falkirk, standing at 49 years and 60 days.
It was Ron who prompted Betty to apply after spotting an article in the Glasgow Herald pertaining to Anne’s achievement.
Due to the long process to get a new record acknowledged, Betty’s record was finally confirmed last month and she has now received a framed certificate in recognition of the feat.
She says she feels very lucky to have survived and is very grateful to her husband Ron, who “carries all the shopping”, and all the medical and nursing staff involved in her care over the past six decades and more.