Falkirk health: Banknock mum of two, 78, marks 50 years since pioneering heart surgery

Anne Bell, 78, from Banknock, is the longest surviving recipient of a single artificial heart valve replacement – one of the first in Scotland to undergo such treatment.

Earlier this year it was confirmed that she had set a new Guinness World Record. However, this Sunday, December 4 marks 50 years since the operation to replace the mitral heart valve was carried out at the former Mearnskirk Hospital in Glasgow when Anne was just 28 years old.

Her husband, Jim, made a daily four-hour round trips involving two buses to visit his wife as she recovered from surgery, while her two children, daughter Carol and son George, then only eight and four, were looked after by relatives.

Anne was discharged from hospital just 19 days after the operation and daughter Carol Bell explained that her mum was so desperate to get home to her family she went to great lengths to be discharged. She said: “Mum tells us that the doctors said she could get home for Christmas if she put on weight, so every time she was weighed she would put bars of soap in her dressing gown pockets – and it worked.”

Anne needed the surgery after a bout of rheumatoid fever as a child damaged her heart valve, but the family were told the survival rate for the operation was one in three.

She said: “I was one of three people in hospital at that time who underwent this operation and out of the three I am only one who survived as sadly one patient died a few weeks after surgery and the other died a year later. I feel incredibly lucky to have lived for such a long time after this operation as it’s given me the opportunity to see both my children grow up and spend time with my husband and the rest of our friends and family.

"This new world record is testament to the outstanding care and treatment I have received, not only from the medical team who carried out the operation, but also the local doctors and nurses in NHS Forth Valley who carry out regular health checks to make sure the replacement heart valve continues to do its job.”

Following her operation, which was carried out under the care of under the care of surgeon Robert Barclay and physician John Reid, Anne’s care transferred to the former Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary and then Forth Valley Royal Hospital where she undergoes annual checks carried out by NHS Forth Valley, Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead for Cardiology, Dr Catherine Labinjoh.

Following family research, they found that the previous record was 47 years after surgery and, supported by clinical information and testimonies supplied by Dr Labinjoh, the new record of 49 years and 60 days was finally confirmed on February 2 this year and the family received a framed certificate.

Anne gets a mention in the 2023 Guinness Book of World Records with her family astounded at the coincidence that it appears on page 72 and her operation was in 1972.

They plan to celebrate the anniversary with a quiet family meal and a bigger celebration in January. Then Anne and Jim have another special anniversary to look forward to on October 19 next year when they celebrate 60 years of marriage.