Transplant Patient Reunited With Her Own Heart At Wellcome Collection

4 September 2007: Heart transplant patient Jennifer Sutton did something today that none of us ever can, she came face-to-face with her own heart in The Heart exhibition at Wellcome Collection, a new £30m public venue from the Wellcome Trust. www.wellcomecollection.org

Jennifer was visiting The Heart at Wellcome Collection before the exhibition closes on 16 September 2007.

Jennifer, 23, from the New Forest, had a heart transplant at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, on 4 June 2007. She lent her heart to Wellcome Collection for The Heart exhibition to increase public awareness of donation and Restrictive Cardiomyopathy, the disease that would have killed her.

Four out of 10 deaths in the UK are from heart and circulatory disease, according to the British Heart Foundation. UK Transplant reports that currently heart patients wait an average of 103 days for a suitable organ to become available. Sadly for some the wait is too long: last year 28 patients died while listed for a heart transplant.

The Heart is Wellcome Collection's first temporary exhibition. It explores the medical and cultural significance of the heart and brings together contemporary and historic artefacts from across the world. The exhibition traces the history of our medical understanding of the heart and examines its extraordinary symbolic and cultural significance. Exhibits as diverse as work by Leonardo da Vinci and Andy Warhol, through to the Egyptian Book of the Dead and Jennifer Sutton's heart are displayed. The exhibition closes on 16 September 2007.

Jennifer Sutton said: "Seeing my heart for the first time is an emotional and surreal experience. It caused me so much pain and turmoil when it was inside me. Seeing it sitting here is extremely bizarre and very strange. Finally I can see this odd looking lump of muscle that has given me so much upset. It's tremendous it has become an object of fascination and will get people thinking about the disease, heart transplants and organ donation.

"I would not be here and able to look at my heart if were not for the wonderful person who left me their heart and to whom I am forever indebted. Through their gift they have truly given me life. I hope one day to thank the family. I had learned not to think about the future. Suddenly it's all before me and I am so happy to be alive."

James Peto, Exhibition Curator, said: "It's a real privilege to be able to include Jennifer's heart in the exhibition and extraordinary to see her so full of energy so soon after the transplant. To see the heart of a person still living is quite remarkable and Jennifer's heart is definitely one of the most thought-provoking features of the exhibition.

Wellcome Collection combines three contemporary galleries together with the world-famous Wellcome Library, public events forum, café, bookshop, conference centre and members' club, to provide visitors with radical insight into the human condition. Wellcome Collection has been visited by over 45,000 people since it opened on 21 June 2007.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy explained
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy causes the heart muscle to stiffen so the heart cannot relax normally during diastole (the time between heartbeats in which the blood returns from the body to the heart). As the disease progresses the heart muscle continues to stiffen and eventually contraction is also affected. A very low output from the heart can affect the function of other organs. The disease eventually causes death. Transplant is the only cure.

Jennifer's life before and after transplant
Jennifer began to notice the effects of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy at about 18 years old getting increasingly out of breath and suffering from chronic tiredness. She became increasingly sick while studying for a degree in Animal Science at Sparsholt College, Winchester and the decision was made in April 2007 to transplant her heart. She had the operation on 4 June 2007, following an uncommonly quick waiting period of only eight weeks. After transplant, Bramley, Jennifer's dog (a German Pointer), is getting the best walks of his life. For the first time, Jennifer can walk without stopping every couple of metres and she is enjoying life and making plans for the future; something she was unable to do before. She has a strict regime of immune suppressant drugs to stop her body rejecting the donated heart, and will have to follow such a system for the rest of her life. This includes about 12 pills a day, weighing herself and taking her temperature every morning. However, she would not return to her pre-operation state and considers herself hugely lucky.

Jennifer's heart will return to Papworth at the close of The Heart exhibition on 16 September. The hospital will use her heart to increase understanding about Restrictive cardiomyopathy.

Jennifer Sutton's fundraising drive
Jennifer is hosting a netball tournament, fete and live music event to help to raise money for Papworth's Transplant Unit. The event takes place on 9 September at Poulmer Junior School, Ringwood, Hampshire from 1500-2230hrs.

Heartfelt Emotions
A special two day symposium run by Wellcome Collection that brings together experts from the worlds of science, history, art and philosophy to explore the role of our heads and hearts in shaping our moods and behavior, will held on September 7 and 8. Full details at www.wellcomecollection.org.

Joining the Organ Donation Register
Find out about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register: 0845 60 60 400 or www.uktransplant.org.uk


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Notes to Editors

Wellcome Collection Media Centre & Images
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Press contacts
Will Kallaway
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E will.kallaway@kallaway.co.uk

Anna Cusden
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Papworth Hospital Press Contacts
Katharine Boness
T +44 (0)1480 364 929
E Katharine.boness@papworth.nhs.uk

Morag Parsons
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E morag.parsons@papworth.nhs.uk

About Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (www.papworth-hospital.org.uk)
Papworth Hospital is the UK's largest provider of specialist heart and lung services, notably cardiology, respiratory medicine, cardiothoracic surgery and heart and lung transplantation. It treats over 20,000 inpatient and day cases and almost 30,000 outpatients each year. Papworth carried out the UK's first successful heart transplant in 1979, Europe's first successful heart-lung transplant in 1984 and the world's first heart, lung and liver transplant in 1989. The UK's first beating heart transplant was carried out at the hospital in 2006.

Wellcome Collection (www.wellcomecollection.org)
Wellcome Collection is a new £30 million visitor attraction from the Wellcome Trust that opened on 21 June 2007. Admission is free.

Wellcome Collection is a world first. It combines three contemporary galleries together with the world-famous Wellcome Library, public events forum, café, bookshop, conference centre and members' club, to provide visitors with radical insight into the human condition.

Wellcome Collection builds on the vision, legacy and personal collection of Wellcome Trust founder Sir Henry Wellcome and is part of the Wellcome Trust's mission to foster understanding and promote research to improve human and animal health. The building is centred around three substantial galleries totalling 1350m²


Highlights include:

	Special exhibitions (650m2): The largest gallery in Wellcome Collection is used to host temporary exhibitions, presenting newly commissioned works and thematic shows structured around topics of medical, cultural and ethical significance. The opening exhibition is The Heart, 21 June - 16 September 2007.
	Medicine Man (350m2): The permanent exhibition contains more than 500 strange and beautiful artefacts from Sir Henry Wellcome's original collection, presented in a rich American walnut-panelled gallery, centred on a large 'Wunderkammer' cabinet.
	Medicine Now (350m2): The permanent Medicine Now exhibition explores contemporary medical topics through the eyes of scientists, artists and popular culture in a bright contemporary environment.

Public events: A lively programme of public events expand on exhibition themes. Wellcome Collection's flexible events space, the Forum, will bring audiences face-to-face with prominent experts and personalities from the worlds of art, science and the humanities, to explore current issues and ancient mysteries of human wellbeing. Heartfelt Emotions is the first of ten events in September and October 2007.

Wellcome Library: The Wellcome Library contains over two million items and is one of the world's greatest collections for the study of the history and progress of medicine. The public areas of the Library span two floors of Wellcome Collection and include the fully restored Reading Room, first used as a Hall of Statuary by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1932.

The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK and the second largest medical research charity in the world. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. Wellcome Trust funding has supported a number of major successes, including:

sequencing the human genome
establishing the UK Biobank
development of the antimalarial drug artemisinin
pioneering cognitive behavioural therapies for psychological disorders
building the Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum
the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the largest ever genetic study of common
diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and bipolar disorder

The Wellcome Trust is a charity registered in England, no. 210183.

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