Britain before Morris's surgery was Keith Castle, who had surgery performed by Sir Terence English in August 1979 at Papworth Hospital. In conjunction with celebrating his two decades of postoperative life, Morris said his heart disease was serious and debilitating, noting: "Twenty years ago I was a complete invalid. I couldn't even walk. In February 1980 Yacoub gave me my new heart and since then I have come on in leaps and bounds." This enabled him to travel to a number of countries, including making five journeys to the United States, and see his grandchildren grow up. These were all experiences that would not have been possible without the transplant. By 2000, Harefield ran the largest heart and lung transplant programme in the world. Yacoub and his team went on to perform more than 3,000 heart and heart–lung transplants. Morris retired at the age of 65 and outlived his wife Beryl. When 25 years arrived, Morris expressed surprise: "It was an anniversary I thought I would never get to." In July 2005, Morris joined 1,000 other people who had survived heart and lung transplant operations at a celebration at Harefield Hospital to mark 25 years of transplant surgery. He was Harefield and Europe's longest surviving recipient. Just weeks before his death, he participated in a stroll along Swansea Bay to raise funds for heart disease research. Death and legacy Morris died from a flu-like illness on 30 July 2005 at the age of 75, six months after the 25th anniversary party. By then, he had three grandchildren. His long lasting legacy was that: "Most importantly, Derrick went on to show that transplantation was a good thing", said Yacoub. Morris is said to have been instrumental in a sea change in public opinion about this type of surgery. Morris promoted campaigns to fight heart disease and was effectively both a benchmark and a "poster child" for signing up potential organ donors. His survival and his lifetime example was called a transplant medicine "inspiration" by Yacoub. His successful operation and prolonged survival had a profound effect on public opinion relative to heart transplants. His longevity record was later surpassed by John McCafferty, who became Britain's longest surviving heart transplant recipient by 2013 at the age 73. References Notes Citations Further reading External links BBC1: Late News – Saturday 23 February 1980 – BBC News footage the day after operation 23 February 1980