Publish date: 1 January 2026
An active and healthy teenager, Joe enjoyed sport and outdoor pursuits, including wild swimming at Windermere and BMX cycling – until a persistent stomach ache resulted in him visiting Blackpool Victoria Hospital. He’d had no other symptoms but an ultrasound scan unexpectedly revealed he had a severely swollen heart, and a diagnosis of viral cardiopathy was given. Joe was admitted for emergency treatment but after two weeks, as his condition deteriorated, he was airlifted to Wythenshawe to be stabilised.
Doctors then gave Joe and his family the devastating news that he would need a heart transplant to survive. By this point, Joe had already lost a lot of weight and muscle mass – then after 3 weeks, he developed sepsis. He underwent emergency surgery to have a biventricular device fitted but he was now suffering liver and kidney failure. Joe was advised that he needed to gain weight and build himself up in order to withstand the transplant surgery he desperately needed. Although Joe had no appetite at this point, he forced himself to eat and built up some strength by walking, very slowly, around the room.
Being already on the urgent list due to the severity of his illness, he was soon offered a donor heart. It was a match and the surgery went ahead. But Joe’s challenges weren’t over. After the transplant he went into acute rejection caused by shock and had to undergo emergency surgery on the ward. This was his third instance of open-heart surgery in a short space of time. Joe was then placed on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), needed liver and kidney support, had a tracheotomy and then spent about 10 weeks in a coma.
Joe said “Whilst I was in a coma, they started gradually taking me off all the machines and I very slowly came round. It was then ages until I could go onto a normal ward and then finally, I was able to leave Wythenshawe.”
Once back home, as his recovery began, Joe and his family contacted his heart donor’s family to thank them. Like Joe, his donor was only 18.
After suffering these setbacks and a making a miraculous recovery, 11 years later Joe is perhaps more determined than most to live an active life. He is a keen climber, completes half Ironman and ultra marathon challenges, and has tackled Mont Blanc and Kilimanjaro. Next on his list is a 6000-metre climb of Mera Peak in Nepal.
Poulton-based, Joe still works as a control room coordinator for Victrex Plc but also has a new calling as a digital creator, under his handle of @joexplorez. He now hopes to set a world record for the highest mountain climb as a transplantee and is a fervent supporter of organ donation.
Reflecting on his own transplant experience, he said “It was definitely life-changing surgery for me – I only need to take immune suppressants now. The doctors and NHS were absolutely amazing but it’s such a selfless act to be a donor. To be able to change someone’s life is an absolute honour – there is simply no downside to putting yourself on the donor list.”
