A HEART patient from Poole has credited a new kind of pacemaker for a significant improvement in his health.

David Richer, who lives with his wife Deirdre in Hamworthy, has been experiencing heart problems for 15 years and his condition had become so bad he was left unable to walk more than 20 yards without stopping.

The 70-year-old father-of-four, whose symptoms also made it difficult for him to sleep, has been helped by a project funded with a £94,000 grant from Heart Research UK.

The technique is being developed by consultant cardiologist Dr Tim Betts and research fellow Dr James Gamble in Oxford.

It involves delivering a resynchronising pacemaker wire directly from the right ventricle of the heart to the inside of the left ventricle. The researchers claim evidence shows this can achieve better pumping results than the conventional technique – and it is being tested on heart patients where other treatments have failed.

Mr Richer said that for him this was a last resort, adding: “This procedure has had a profound life-changing effect on me. I am so lucky – I can’t believe that I can now do things that I never thought I would ever be able to do again.”

Before his illness, at the age of 55, Mr Richer was still playing football and cricket, but by the time he reached 60 his condition was deteriorating to the point that he was unable to undertake normal everyday tasks without experiencing debilitating symptoms.

Doctors later carried out tests, discovering that a previous pacemaker had become infected. After removing it, they referred him to the Oxford-based specialists for the new treatment.

Within a couple of days he began to feel better and as the weeks went by his life got back to normal.

“Mine was a life-threatening experience and now I have got my life back,” said Mr Richer. “You wouldn’t believe the difference this new pacemaker technique has made.”

Dr Gamble said: “We’re delighted that patients like David have been able to benefit from this piece of research. We are still at a relatively early stage in this research and the procedure is only suitable for some patients, but whenever someone improves like this it gives us encouragement to continue the work.”