A keen equestrian is looking forward to getting back in the saddle after crippling leg pains prevented him riding for several years.
Gordon Sheridan, who keeps six horses on farmland in Pinner, could barely walk as constricted arteries reduced the amount of blood getting to his legs.
Gordon, 67, said: “My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest because it was doing so much overtime. It was incredibly painful to walk any distance.”
The greatest wrench was not being able to ride his beloved Hanna, a Shire horse who dwarfs her owner.
Gordon said: “I did the typical man thing and just soldiered on thinking it was just part of getting older until I was told to get a check-up.
“I eventually hobbled into the hospital for my procedure like a lame chimpanzee and came out several hours later walking normally with no pain for the first time in years. It was extraordinary.”
Gordon benefited from a minimally invasive procedure which involved inserting a wire into his groin which delivered two small mesh tubes called stents into the artery at the top of each leg.
The operation happened at the West London Vascular and Interventional Centre at Northwick Park Hospital.
The former floor layer bought his first horse from the Police and endured three months of falls before officers deemed him suitably saddle worthy to take ownership.
Gordon added: “I couldn’t ride when I bought it but ended up competing with the police show-jumping team.”
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