Plasma exchange allows patient to receive new heart for Christmas

Saint Nick

NHS Blood and Transplant's very own 'Saint Nick' recently gave the best gift possible – working overnight so a patient got a new heart before Christmas.

Nick Cave is a nurse at one of our TAS (Therapeutic Apheresis Services) units, where he and the rest of the team regularly carry out lifesaving and life-improving treatments.

But this week, Nick helped with an extra special request – a plasma exchange to allow a super urgent heart transplant to happen.

Nick was on call when he was asked to carry out this urgent treatment and he worked through the night, until 4:30am.

The patient Nick looked after had a lot of antibodies, risking rejection of the transplanted heart. Nick carried out a plasma exchange, removing the antibodies from the patient’s blood, to allow the transplant to proceed.

Just an example of the wonderful work our TAS teams across the country do every single day.

Nick said: "It was a pleasure to be able to perform the plasma exchange for this patient, to help give them the best possible chance of a successful transplant.

"One of the transplant surgeons expressed his gratitude and told me we should be very proud, which we absolutely are. We are pleased to have been able to be a part of this patient’s journey and wish them well."