John Haines comes of age today - which is odd, considering he's 62 years old.

But it was 18 years ago today that the kitchen fitter from Grove had a revolutionary heart transplant operation at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex.

Now the father-of-two is Oxfordshire's longest-surviving heart transplant patient and is sending out a message of hope as he celebrates the remarkable anniversary with his wife Wendy.

The transplant saved his life and now the 62-year-old from Woodgate Close, Grove, is celebrating 18 years since he went under the surgeon's knife. John told the Oxford Mail: "It certainly gave me a new lease of life. You have to take the only chance you have got.

"It is frightening, but my advice to people in a similar situation is to go for it. There is hope. I did and I am very glad I did."

John, who fits kitchens for Johnson's Buildbase in Oxford, marked the anniversary at an annual Harefield transplant "club" dinner in Cheltenham last weekend, and will be going out for a meal with friends this weekend. Before the operation the DIY enthusiast was a virtual invalid after a series of heart attacks. He and Wendy made the agonising decision to risk surgery, and he went under the knife at the age of 44.

The couple have since raised funds for cardiac machines in ambulances.

Story date: Thursday 28 October

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.