Surgical First for Jersey

31 January 2007

A Surgical first in Jersey has not only saved a 75-year-old man's life - it may also allow him to continue indulging his passion for long-distance running.

Earlier this week Captain Frank Lawrence was fitted with a miniature defibrillator, the equivalent of a pocket-sized 'portable paramedic' that will jump-start his heart.

The former harbours pilot and long-standing lifeboatman is the first person to undergo the ground-breaking surgery in the Channel Islands. Consultant cardiologist Andrew Mitchell, who took up the position in August, performed the 90-minute operation on Tuesday. It is just one of the new procedures he is hoping to bring to the Island that will mean that patients do not have to travel to the UK for treatment.

^{Published 16/12/06 - Jersey Evening Post}

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