Wakefield dad who underwent pioneering heart surgery gearing up to break outdoor go karting record

Barry Newman, from East Ardsley, underwent a revolutionary surgery in 2018 after being diagnosed with heart failure.

Barry found out about the breakthrough procedure after watching a report on TV’s The One Show a year before.

Before the surgery, Barry’s heart only worked at 13 per cent capacity, and he was planning his own funeral and placed on palliative care.

The lifesaving treatment – which was carried out in London and funded by the charity Heart Cells Foundation - carried less risk of rejection than a heart transplant.

The surgery involved taking stem cells from Barry’s bone marrow, treating them in a lab, and injecting it back into the heart via the groin, which regenerated his damaged heart.

Now four years on, the thrill-seeking dad is feeling back to normal and is working out at the gym in preparation to break the world mileage record – 1,000 miles – for an individual 24 hour outdoor go kart race this summer.

And he has even got a new job working at a concrete block manufacturer in Knottingley – something he never thought he would be able to do again.

Barry said: “I can’t believe I am fit and enough and strong enough to even think about breaking this insane record. I am training four times a week and I’ve gone from 110kgs to 92kgs, and my heart is working at a mega 40 per cent.

“My life now feels like a movie that I can keep playing in.

“I’ve also got a full time job at Plasmor in Knottingley – you don’t know how good it feels to be back at work and earning a wage, I didn’t think I would ever be able to do this again. This is my second chance to live, and I don’t want to blow it.”

Barry will complete the challenge at Teesside Karting in Middlesbrough, one of the biggest tracks in Europe, spanning 1.3 miles, on August 5 and 6.

He has purchased the £6,000 kart that he will race in and aims to recoup the money, and donate the remainder of the funds to the Heart Cell Foundation.

To find out more about the Heart Cells Foundation visit the charity’s website https://www.heartcellsfoundation.com/ or to donate to the Heart Cell Foundation visit: https://www.heartcellsfoundation.com/donate/

To donate to Barry’s fundraiser, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/barry-newman-4