THE oldest surviving heart transplant patient in the UK has celebrated the 35th anniversary of his life-changing operation.

Steve Syer, 76, who worked as an engineer at Rank Xerok in Mitcheldean before retiring, was honoured at a reception at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Thursday, March 21.

The dad-of-two is now a double transplant patient after his wife Chris donated a kidney when his started to fail three years ago, and the couple have raised more than £1.8m for heart charities since his operation in February 1984.

World famous surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub and his team only expected him to live for a short while at the time, and Steve admits today: “Initially they said if I lasted a year, that would be good. If I lasted five years, that would almost be a miracle because nobody had lasted five years at that stage.”

But 35 years on, a letter from Professor Yacoub was read out at the reception congratulating Steve on his long life.

Steve became the oldest surviving heart transplant patient in the country with the passing of former steelworker Brian Price from Caldicot in February 2018, who received his new heart just three weeks before Steve.

Incredibly, father-of-two Brian ran the Boston Marathon just 15 months after his operation, and Steve also took up running following his op.

He returned to work in Mitcheldean six weeks after surgery, began jogging up to 20 miles a week, and even took part in biathlon events for charity.

Steve thanked Professor Yacoub and all the doctors who have helped him, and also paid tribute to the person who donated his heart, saying: “Donating your organs you can make a huge difference to someone’s life, like the young man who donated his heart which I received.”

As a result of the heart transplant Steve has seen his children grow into adults, held six grandchildren and a growing number of great grandchildren.