"I've had my replacement heart valve for 41 years"

Anne Bastick was in her early 40s and living in Brussels, where her husband Desmond had an army posting, when her health began to worsen. She had been diagnosed at the age of five with a leaky heart valve, which doctors believed she was probably born with, but it had never previously caused her problems.

I have been so happy that I have been able to still be here. I have seen my children grow up, I have had five grandchildren. I have known them all, so it’s been lovely

“I was getting very short of breath just walking to the shop,” she said. A specialist at St Thomas’s Hospital in London told her she would need to have her aortic valve replaced. “I knew that was a very big op. I was given the choice – either a tissue valve (from a pig) or a mechanical valve, which was metal and carbon. I chose the mechanical because I knew they tend to last longer.”

A mechanical valve can be linked to a higher risk of blood clots, so Anne has taken warfarin for 40 years, to prevent clots forming on her valve.

Anne remembers the date of her operation, 16th September 1980, very well. “My husband and two daughters were working abroad and my son was at boarding school, so I was very much alone. But being on the ward with people who all had heart problems was strangely comforting.”

A fulfilled life

Anne spent several months recovering from surgery, after which she was able to join Desmond in Cyprus. After 30 years “as an army wife”, she trained as a dressmaker when Desmond retired in 1985. Desmond died 23 years ago, and Anne now lives near Taunton, Somerset, with her daughter Judy close by.

Anne says it’s a life she has thoroughly enjoyed and for which she is very grateful. “I have been so happy that I have been able to still be here. I have seen my children grow up, I have had five grandchildren. I have known them all, so it’s been lovely.”

Eight years ago Anne developed an infection following knee surgery, which led to her needing to have her right leg amputated. She has adapted to life with a wheelchair and a prosthetic leg. She drives an adapted car and continues to garden, with the help of long-handled tools.

Anne got through the pandemic in a support bubble with her best friend, also called Anne, who recently celebrated her 99th birthday. “After getting through the lockdowns, we’re both very happy that we are free to see people again and go out.”

Anne thinks she may be one of the longest-lived people with her type of heart valve, known as a Björk-Shiley. This mechanical valve was first used in patients in 1969 and was the first of its kind with a tilting disc, which moved between two metal struts.

It’s good to know that the BHF is in its 60th year, still funding research that can improve the health of people with heart disease, like me

“I really want to say ‘thank you’ to whoever produced it,” said Anne. “It’s the fact that I reached more than 40 years with my valve. I was told that without the operation I wasn’t going to make it to 50. And now I am 83, so I am eternally grateful.

“When my husband retired, I helped the Taunton branch of the BHF, raising funds, for several years. It’s good to know that the BHF is in its 60th year, still funding research that can improve the health of people with heart disease, like me.”

60 years of BHF heart valve research

One of the first BHF research grants in the early 1960s was awarded to a pioneer in heart valve replacement surgery, Professor Donald Ross. In 1967, Ross performed a world-first operation to treat people with a faulty aortic valve, a type of replacement still used by some surgeons today.

We’ve also funded research since the 1970s to collect information on valve surgery, including what type of valve was used, and how successful the procedures were. These studies have provided vital information to help surgeons and patients make informed decisions, for example choosing between biological and artificial valves, and have also shown that people in their 80s or early 90s could still benefit from valve replacement.

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