JIM Quick may be retiring at the end of July - but the Hale businessman has no intention of stepping back from his commitment to the hospital which saved his life.

In fact, Jim, pictured, intends to step up his fund raising efforts for Wythenshawe Hospital's New Heart New Start Appeal.

He's already engaged on July 11 when he'll be donning his walking shoes to take part in the Messenger's 'Walk Towards the Millennium' at Dunham Massey Hall in aid of the appeal.

Jim underwent a heart transplant 12 years ago and because the average life expectancy after surgery is a decade, this means he's basically living in borrowed time. How does he cope?

"I don't wake up every morning and think 'Yipee, I'm alive' because, after 12 years you kind of get used to it - but then again there isn't a day goes by when I don't think about it," he says.

For the public relations chief with the Quick's Motor Group, his descent into ill health was totally unexpected. A keen squash player, Jim began suffering bouts of breathlessness after matches and tests revealed that a virus had damaged the muscle of his heart. And he had to come to terms with the 'mind blowing' news that he'd eventually need a transplant.

Two years later, the man who'd previously only known his GP on nodding terms found himself on the operating table - an experience that has given him a totally different outlook on life.

"I don't get upset any more," he says. "I used to get cross with things and I used to be impatient but not any more - even my wife Elaine asks why I don't throw things at her like I used to."

To join Jim on the walk, which aims to raise £20,000 for the New Heart New Start appeal, simply fill in the coupon, right, and send it to Millennium Walk, Messenger Newspapers, Brindley House, 25 Ashton Lane, Sale M33 6TP, to receive full details of the event and a sponsorship pack.

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