Anbu was my first love. We were married for 20 years. In 2005, he was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and then in 2012, he was diagnosed with heart failure due to cardiomyopathy.

The consultant, Dr Banner and his team decided that he would be fitted with Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) to help his heart function properly as a bridge to a transplant.

From June 2012 until December 2014 he was using LVADs to survive. In mid-2014 he suffered from an infection so the team decided to put him on an emergency list for a heart transplant.
In December 2014, I got the phone call at work that there was a donor available and I dropped everything and rushed to the hospital.

Anbu’s transplant was a success. However, during the operation he had a minor stroke which meant that he was unable to walk for a while and had to stay in the hospital longer.

The staff at Harefield were amazing, without their help I don’t know how I would have dealt with everything. All the doctors were there for me if I needed advice and were very flexible with visiting times for family and friends to see Anbu.

After he was discharged in March 2015, we decided we wanted to give back to Harefield so we registered to do the Harefield Fun Run that year and named ourselves “Anbu’s Army” - the name comes from when the staff would say “The army is coming to see him” during family visits. With the support of family, friends and colleagues, we won the Largest Team Charity Cup in 2015 and 2016.

The success of the heart transplant made it possible for Anbu to fulfil his dreams. He wanted to visit all the continents in the world and got to do that - Australia being the last one.

Unfortunately, in August 2017, Anbu passed away. We’re thankful to the hospital and the donor family who gave him a few more years of life to fulfil his dreams. This has allowed the kids to make more memories with their father which they will now treasure for the rest of their lives.

If you would like to take part in the Harefield Fun Run 2018 like Anbu's army you can sign up here.