Hospital staff have thanked an elderly couple for their astonishing generosity in paying for the purchase of a £45,000 heart machine.

Eddie Kirtland was told that his wife, Lorna, had a five per cent chance of recovery when she suffered multiple organ failure after contracting an unknown virus in 2011.

But she was saved by the combined talents of doctors, nurses and cardiologists, and the couple, who live off Church Road in High Beach, have thanked them with the donation of an echocardiogram machine to St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping.

Mr Kirtland said: “Lorna was rushed to the Princess Alexandra hospital and they didn’t know what the problem was.

“Now they think it was some kind of virus, and she was in the Intensive Care Unit for over a month.

“Throughout her time in hospital the staff were flawless. They saved Lorna’s life and we are so grateful. All of the nurses and doctors were friendly.”

“I asked Dr Jeremy Sayer if there was anything that the hospital needed, or anything that I could give them, to thank them, and he said that St Margaret’s in Epping would benefit from an echocardiogram machine.

“It means that people from Loughton, Debden and Epping don’t have to travel all the way to Harlow.”

The new piece of equipment works like an ultra-sound for the heart and can detect heart disease, one of the biggest killers in the UK.

The property developer also donated five flat screen televisions to Basildon hospital after Lorna was taken care of in the intensive care unit there.

Mrs Kirtland also thanked Dr Ashfack Ahmed from Loughton Medical Centre, whose swift actions got her to the hospital in time.

She said: “I was alone on the morning that I started to feel unwell.
“Dr Ahmed came straight to see me and called an ambulance, I was very lucky.”

Staff at St Margaret’s believe that the new equipment will play a part in saving the lives of hundreds of people.

Dr Sayer said: “This vital piece of equipment uses ultrasound to assess the heart muscle and its valves.

“It is an exciting development which will really help the local community and an extremely generous donation by Mr and Mrs Kirtland.”