Andy Hughes, 63, and his ex-wife Beverley moved from the UK to Haute-Vienne with their two young children in 2003. In England, he had been a financial adviser; in France, he renovates houses
I had no idea I had a heart problem until 2009, when I started having asthma symptoms.
Tests showed my heart was enlarged and I had an irregular heartbeat, so I had a subcutaneous defibrillator implanted in my chest.
It was about the size of a matchbox and only monitored the heart, unlike a pacemaker which works constantly.
Its built-in power pack lasted seven to 10 years and I never knew when it kicked in. It recorded everything so the specialist could see exactly what my heart did when I was working, or even asleep.
It was fitted in a pocket that the surgeons created in my chest, and had wires down into my heart. In 2021, they replaced it with a new one.
Everything was perfect – my blood pressure and heart rate were normal – until August 2025 when it was really hot and physical effort became increasingly difficult.
My GP diagnosed a heart murmur, and the cardiologist said I had a leaky valve, meaning that at each heartbeat some of the blood went back into the heart. As a result, my heart had to work harder to maintain the correct blood pressure.
I was prescribed new medication to slow the heart down but it did not work and I ended up in hospital in the UK, where I was on holiday at the time.
There, doctors discovered that I had a blockage of electrical impulses, making my heart flutter and beat out of sync.
I passed out the morning I was due to fly back to France. When I woke up, the nurses said the defibrillator had saved me. The doctor prescribed beta blockers, which triggered anaphylactic shock.
After having the second defibrillator fitted in 2021Andy Hughes
Due to miscommunication with the pharmacy, they tried to give me the same drug the next morning.
I was in hospital for three days before being allowed to fly home to France. My treatment was fine but communication between hospitals and pharmacies is not good in the UK.
It is much better in France.
In France, you also receive your test results on the spot or later the same day by email, whereas in the UK it takes weeks for the results to be sent to your doctors.
Back in France, I saw the surgeon who decided to replace the defibrillator with a pacemaker.
The pacemaker is the same size as my old defibrillator and in the same place. Everything went really well and I am already back to my normal activities.
In the UK, the waiting time for a pacemaker can be eight to 10 months. Here in France, it can be as little as one to two months. In fact, the worst part is waiting for a date because you cannot plan anything.
