A Moray grandmother who nearly died following a heart attack has designed a special tartan to thank the medics who saved her life.
Linda Gorn from Keith, 75, recently suffered both a heart attack and aneurysm and nearly died following major heart surgery at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary last year.
The 75-year-old kilt and textile centre owner said she wouldn’t be here without the hospital’s hardworking cardiology team – and has released the unique tartan to help raise funds for the department.
She told STV News: “I realised something was going badly wrong. I was in a tunnel and I could see a light at the end of it and I thought someone is going to have to do something fast.
“I trained as a nurse so I knew this shouldn’t be happening. I looked at the bottom of the bed, the heart surgeon was there and they were putting something into my drip which was steroids and that turned everything around and I knew I was going to survive.”
Linda’s journey back to health has been difficult, including bad reactions to medication and learning to walk again – but she said medics were with her every step of the way.
The colourful Heart of Grampian tartan is being woven at Keith’s weaving mill and will be made into kilts, scarves and ties and will help raise money for ARI’s cardiac unit.
She said: “The grey is what you feel when you have a heart attack – anxious and concerned.
“Red is for the blood, white is for the light at the end of the tunnel.
“The other colours represent the staff uniforms, including the green for the scrubs so it means a lot.”
The hospital staff said they are proud to be the first heart team in the world to have their own exclusive tartan – a design which Linda says has been woven with gratitude.
‘It’s absolutely amazing. I’m quite emotional to be quite honest,” Linda added.
“They are a fantastic bunch and have saved so many people lives.”
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