My name is Bert and I received a heart transplant at 17 years old. I had no idea that I would go on to live another 42 years (and counting) and that I would make it to the Guinness Book of Records in 2024 for being the longest surviving heart transplant patient.

Only one month after I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, I was flown from the Netherlands to the UK and received my transplant at Harefield on 6 June 1984 by Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub.

I was his 107th recipient and could never imagine I would come this far. Nevertheless, I always looked up to others who had their donor heart longer than me. It is an honour and I am very grateful to have been given this incredible gift which allowed me to reach this milestone.

However, what I think is most important is that I set a benchmark for others. In the Netherlands, doctors keep telling patients a life expectancy of 15-17 years after (heart) transplant. Well, me still being here proves there is hope beyond statistics. Lots of hope I would say considering all the medical innovations we had and still are going to get. If we look at the people exceeding 25 years after transplant we see they are numerous. So why not focus on that instead of releasing some theoretical figures which in many cases do not prove to be true.

This is exactly the message I wanted to send into the world when applying for the Guinness Record. Fact is many of us are still there after (a lot) more than 15-17 years. So keep believing and live your life. That is what I did and do, and a good life it is!

If you are looking for any support, I would be happy to be there for you. We could possibly meet during the Celebration Weekend in Bournemouth, but if not feel free to send a message to Harefield Transplant Club and they will make sure we can liaise.