Maggie’s Story ‘To Fly – To Serve’

At 52 Maggie thought her life would never be the same again!

It was June 1996, she was at the height of her career, aircrew with British Airways on the magnificent Concorde, flying supersonic around the world. Maggie had been getting a little breathless, and then suffered classic symptoms of breathlessness and pain. Having been referred by her GP, an angiogram confirmed her worst fears; she had a blocked artery which was not suitable for surgery.

“That was it. I loved my job, I loved Concorde, I’ll never fly again!” Maggie was devastated. However having been prescribed medication her GP told her “now get off to Cardiac Rehab, and we will have you flying again.” Although Maggie didn’t believe her for one minute, that’s what she did.

Having completed Phase III and graduating onto Phase IV classes at the Centre, Maggie’s fitness continued to improve as did her confidence. When she felt the time was right she approached British Airways, who said, they would welcome her back if she passed the medical assessment. To Maggie’s great relief & joy, she passed with an A1 fitness rating. She re-joined her colleagues on Concorde and continued her flying career until she retired, following her last flight on Concorde in September 1998.

Maggie’s story isn’t unique but highlights that heart disease doesn’t have to be the end of a story but merely a punctuation. Her story shows the benefits of the programmes we run here at Cardiac Rehab, and if you have heart disease, or you have any of the risk factors that put you at risk, now is the time to get in touch and see how we can help improve your heart health.