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 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 Millennium Walk 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 there isn't a day goes by when I don't think about it", he says.

Public relations chief with the Quick's Motor Group, his descent into ill health was totally unexpected.

A keen squash player before his operation, Jim recalls suffering bouts of breathlessness after matches. He was later diagnosed as suffering from asthma by the locum standing in for his own GP.

Anxious for a second opinion, Jim visited another doctor who diagnosed a weak heart and whisked him into hospital the same afternoon for tests.

The tests revealed a virus had damaged the muscle of the heart and he had to come to terms with the 'mind blowing' news that he'd eventually need a transplant, which was carried out two years later.

The Messenger 5 mile Millennium walk takes place on July 11 at Dunham Massey. All proceeds go to Wythenshawe Hospital's New Heart New Start appeal - for which we are hoping to raise more than £20,000 towards its target of £1.5 million.

Entries are already flooding in but we need up to 5,000 foot soldiers to make it a success. So sign up today and send your form to SUM Millennium Walk, Brindley House, 25, Ashton Lane, Sale, M33 6TP to receive a full information pack and sponsorship form.

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