Tom Ford was counting his blessing after having been told at the beginning of the year he had only months to live. A life changing heart transplant meant he was beating that deadline and was fit and healthy playing golf, walking and playing tennis.

He had received the heart of a 20 year old in Sydney's St Vincent's hospital. Prior to the surgery, he had suffered from ischaemic heart disease. He had difficulty taking a shower.

He was reported as saying it had taken a while to get used to the strong beat of the new heart.

"I was bouncing on the hospital bed, up and down" he said.

Four weeks after the surgery a biopsy showed his body was rejecting the heart, an increase in drugs reduced the problem and, at the time of this article, he was packing his bags to head from Canberra to live in Sydney in order to manage the required weekly visits to St Vincent's Hospital.

To stay alive and well, Ford had a series of strict precautions. First he had to have a diet of mostly fruit and vegetables and then there was a need for thorough warm up and cool down before and after exercise.

He would have to wear a mask on public transport and in shopping centres to reduce the risk of infection and would need to continue to take drugs to counter rejection of the new heart.

Ford said he was in a state of shock about his new life. "You've got to readjust your thinking and I haven't had time to readjust fully, "he said.

He had praise for the doctors and medical techniques that changed his life. "I have no doubts that they'll get me through any other trouble that comes up in the near future," he said.

See: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/15960729