Heart transplant lockdown dad leaves Royal Papworth Hospital
A transplant patient who was admitted to hospital on New Year's Eve has left after seven months - missing the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Richard Priest, 54, who lives near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, had restrictive cardiomyopathy and was "in a bad way" when he was admitted to the Royal Papworth Hospital in December.
Mr Priest celebrated the moment he was discharged from the Cambridge hospital earlier with staff who had cared for him over the last 227 days saying he was "looking forward to being back home".
He told the BBC: "[Staff] have done a really, really good job of protecting me. I had no indications of having Covid whatsoever. They've kept Covid well away from me."
Not having had a haircut since November 2019 his daughter is now keen to put his long locks into a French plait.
