Heart patient names rose bush in thank you fundraiser for Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital

A horticulturalist who was treated at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is saying thank you with specially named flowers.

Nursery owner Keith Jones whose blooms are sold around the country and abroad, named a rose after the hospital’s ‘Heartfelt Thanks’ campaign, with £5 donated to the charity for each rose bush sold.

A year ago he underwent complex surgery after a cardiac arrest left his heart damaged. Keith was suffering dizzy spells and was told his condition would deteriorate without the surgery.

He was suffering from aortic stenosis, narrowing of the outflow valve of the heart; and Cardiac Consultant Mr Andrew Muir carried out a minimally invasive procedure which removed his severely narrowed aortic valve and replaced it with a mechanical prosthesis.

Mr Muir said: “Replacing the aortic valve though a small incision through the upper half of his breastbone rather than the whole sternum allows patients to recover more swiftly after surgery. Patients need to stay in hospital for a shorter time, and are returning to normal activity more quickly.

“Mr Jones told us he was back to work two days after getting out of hospital when we contacted him for his review appointment. It is excellent to hear his good health continues.”

Keith, 62, who runs C&K Roses in Tarvin near Chester, said: “I was very nervous because it meant opening my heart and putting in a metal aortic valve replacement, but Mr Muir was absolutely brilliant and all the hospital staff were wonderful – the team is out of this world, the treatment and the way they looked after me was superb.

“I was back at work very quickly; I wanted to do something to show how grateful I was, which is why I thought of renaming a rose. I chose a really good variety, a pink floribunda which grows to two to three feet and flowers from June till November. For every rose bush sold at £20, £5 will be donated to the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Charity.”

The roses will soon be growing in Regents Park, London, after an order was placed for 180 of the Heartfelt Thanks variety, to be planted in February.

The roses can be ordered online here.