Putt it there! Luke makes golf day donation to say a big thank you for heart op

A sportsman who underwent surgery to fix a serious heart defect has raised nearly £8,000 to say a huge thank you for the care and support he received.

Luke Jenkins, a 35-year-old father of two, had surgery in October 2023 for a congenital condition called bicuspid aortic valve after becoming ill while training for an Ironman Wales event.

Luke, who had always been fit and healthy before falling ill, developed chest pains while out running in preparation for the event. He had successfully completed half marathons in the past, so initially dismissed the pain as a muscle strain, especially as it didn’t persist.

But when the pain reoccurred, Luke decided to see his GP, who detected a murmur while listening to his chest and immediately referred him for urgent investigation.

“I didn’t want to make a fuss, I know that’s something people often say,” said Luke, who is from Fishguard in Pembrokeshire.

“My wife is a nurse, and she told me to get myself checked out after the first time I had the chest pain. But I thought it was just a muscle thing.

“My doctor then gave me a bit of ticking off for not getting to the surgery sooner. I was told I’d have to have surgery and that there are probably few places better than Morriston Hospital’s cardiac unit to have the op.”

Bicuspid aortic valve is a congenital abnormality of the aortic valve, which effects around 1 in 50 people. The condition can often go undetected but placing extra strain on the heart, for example through intense cardio-vascular exercise, is likely to lead to the symptoms Luke experienced.

“Before I knew it, I was in Morriston having my pre-op checks, meeting with the anaesthetist and my surgeon, Mr Fabio Falconeri,” added Luke.

“Mr Falconeri explained that I would be having open heart surgery and would have a metallic valve fitted. 

Pictured: Luke Jenkins, centre, with friends during his fundraising event at Newport Links Golf Club.

“I went in on Sunday, 29th November and had surgery on Monday, 30th November 2023.

“After the procedure, I had a pretty rough time because I suffered a collapsed lung that wasn’t immediately picked up on. That was tricky because I’d been put on warfarin, which I’ll need to take for the rest of my life.

“They couldn’t perform a chest drain on the lung without bringing me back off the warfarin, so I was back in Morriston for another 10 days. As you can imagine, Christmas last year was tough.

“But I received really brilliant care, everybody was great and then I thought, well, you hear a lot of negativity about the NHS, I want to show the positivity.

“I’ve always been a keen golfer and remain so. My golf club is Newport Links, down the road from me, in Newport, Pembrokeshire.

“So I organised a golf day, a Texas Scramble for teams of four. I got 19 teams together for a day at the end of August. It was brilliant, the support from everyone was fantastic.

“We had a cart driving around the course with drinks for everyone, a two-course meal afterwards in the club house and live music.

“The course is in a beautiful location overlooking the sea, so we ended the day enjoying the view with a beer. It was perfect.

“And from the day, we raised £7,750, which I said we’d split evenly between a donation to the cardiac intensive therapy unit’s fund, which is managed by Swansea Bay Health Charity, and the British Heart Foundation.”

Luke is now back in work as a funeral director with the family firm in Fishguard. While he won’t be training for another Ironman, he is hoping to get back into the Ironman discipline he enjoyed the most - swimming.

“I was doing a mile before breakfast most days, so I want to get back into that,” added Luke.

“I feel I’m doing okay. I started back in work on just office duties because lifting was a no-no but now I’m getting there.

“Mr Falconeri told me one thing that made my blood run cold, though. He said if I hadn’t had the pain when I did, and had ended up doing the Ironman, I wouldn’t have been around to make it to the finish line. That makes me appreciate just how lucky I am.

“I’ve got two-year-old twins so a lot to be thankful for. They keep me pretty busy, but I will get back into the swimming and while I will need to take medication going forward, I’m so thankful to everyone at the cardiac unit in Morriston and looking forward to a great Christmas this year.”

Luke’s donation will help pay for equipment and projects that will make a real difference to patients and staff but may fall outside the remit of core NHS funding.

“We can’t thank Luke enough for this incredible donation to Cardiac ITU,” said Cathy Stevens, community support charity officer with Swansea Bay Health Charity, the health board’s official charity.

“Donations like this allow our charity to improve patient care through providing specialist equipment and staff training, ground breaking research into new treatments and even enhancing the hospital environment to improve patient experience. 

“It is very humbling when patients go away and decide to fundraise to thank our staff for their care and this donation is just amazing. Thank you Luke.”

If this story has inspired you to raise funds for your local NHS then Swansea Bay Health Charity would love to hear from you. To get the ball rolling, email the charity team at: swanseabay.healthcharity@wales.nhs.uk.