Dad who planned own funeral after heart failure given ‘second chance at life’ and attempts go-kart Guinness World Record

A dad who planned his own funeral after going into heart failure has seen his life turn around after the disease rekindled romance with his childhood sweetheart and stem cell treatment saved his life and led him to attempt a go-karting world record.

Barry Newman, a 56-year-old handyman for a concrete block firm from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, never thought he would be at risk of having a “dodgy ticker”, being a non-smoker and non-drinker who works physically every day with his job.

But after experiencing respiratory issues in 2014 he was diagnosed with global dilated cardiomyopathy – a condition where the walls of the heart chambers become stretched, thickened or stiff, affecting the organ’s ability to pump blood around the body.

However, by chance he was reunited with former girlfriend Nicki Simpson – who he had dated when they were both 18 – after she was assigned to provide his physio treatment.

The couple “clicked immediately” and Nicki soon moved in, leading Barry to feel “the NHS is a winner”, but his health deteriorated to the point he was too sick for a heart transplant and he had to say his goodbyes to his loved ones.

However, after stem cell treatment in 2018 he made a remarkable recovery, and this month he made a Guinness World Record attempt for the longest distance travelled in 24 hours in a go-kart on an outside track, to raise money for the Heart Cells Foundation to thank them for providing life-saving care.

He broke his ribs and failed to complete the challenge, but raised more than £2,000 for charity and his son Robert, 27, plans to beat the record for him next year.

Barry, who lives with 56-year-old cardiac physiotherapist Nicki, said: “At my worst, I couldn’t work, I was in bed all day, collapsing all the time, and planning my own funeral.

“Now, I’ve got my life back, I’m working and spending plenty of time with my partner and my son.

“Now that I’m strong enough, I wanted to do something for the charity that gave me my life back.”

Barry first began experiencing respiratory problems in 2014 and, unsure of the cause, he sought medical advice.

Initially doctors thought he had pneumonia before considering the possibility of cancer, but those were ruled out and a CT scan revealed his heart was “more than twice the size” it should have been.

After an MRI scan, Barry was told his heart was working at 13% capacity and, diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, the news was broken to him that he was in heart failure.

He said: “The doctor told me that we needed to consider the possibility of a heart transplant and I couldn’t believe it.

“As a non-smoker, non-drinker, someone who has always worked in a physical job, I’d never thought I’d be at risk of a dodgy ticker.”

In 2015, Barry was unexpectedly reunited with his childhood sweetheart when she turned out to be his cardiac physiotherapist.

Barry and Nicki had first met in a nightclub in the 1980s and, after dating for “around six months”, the pair amicably went their separate ways.

He said: “We’d just drifted apart and both moved on, and as far as I was aware she had trained to be hairdresser, so when I heard that a Nicki Simpson was going to be coming to my house for physiotherapy, I never thought it would be the same person.

“It wasn’t until I got another call to say that Nicki had realised she knew me and that they needed permission for her to come to my house, of course I said it was fine.”

When Nicki knocked on the door that day, Barry threw his arms round her and gave her a kiss.

He added: “We just clicked immediately, and everything sparked off again, and now she’s here full-time so the NHS is a winner.”

Nicki moved in with Barry in 2016 but as the relationship progressed, his health deteriorated.

His fragile condition made a heart transplant impossible, leaving him to confront the painful task of planning his own funeral and saying goodbye to his loved ones including Robert.

Barry said: “My best friend was my bed, my choice of clothing was pyjamas, and I couldn’t get through a full day, I was just so fatigued.

“We had discussions about the funeral, I was spiralling down. I was weak and I was always collapsing. At the time, my dad was dying but he was also watching me die.”

By chance in 2018, Barry and Nicki saw a clip about the Heart Cells Foundation on TV. The charity uses pioneering therapy to repair a patient’s heart using their own stem cells.

With Barry’s prognosis looking bleak as he was given a year to live, he decided he had “nothing to lose” and booked a consultation.

In November 2018, he underwent stem cell treatment at Heart Cells Foundation’s Compassionate Treatment Unit at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

He said: “With Nicki’s help, I recovered from the stem cell treatment and then it was a case of wait and see how it goes.

“When I saw my doctor in 2019, he couldn’t believe how well I was doing. After planning to say my goodbyes to my loved ones and hearing that my heart was working at 13%, it was now working at 40%.”

The difference meant that Barry was strong enough to return to full-time work and to enjoy milestone events including his son’s graduation.

He added: “It’s mind-bending that I’m still here to make memories with my family. I’ve got a second chance at life and I want to make the most of it.”

Getting his life back on track, Barry wanted to do something to give back to the charity that saved his life and he had an idea for breaking a Guinness World Record.

He said: “Me and Robert have always loved go-karting ever since I took him to an indoor track for his eighth birthday.

“After that, I’d bought him his own kart and we’d always gone together.

“So I decided to try to beat the longest distance travelled on an outdoor track in 24 hours. In order to beat the current 945.60-mile record, I aimed to travel 1,000 miles.”

On August 5, Barry started his attempt at Teesside Karting in Middlesbrough, but with other karts also attempting the record, he struggled to avoid other drivers and was injured in a collision.

With “super duper unbearable” pain in his ribs, Barry abandoned the record attempt but had still raised £2,000 for the Heart Cells Foundation.

He said: “It would have been really nice to finish the race but I just couldn’t do it. Instead, my son Robert is planning to attempt it for me next year.

“Heart Cells Foundation have literally saved my life and I am so grateful to them. The fact that I’m fit enough and strong enough to even think about breaking this insane record is amazing.

“My life now feels like a movie that I can keep playing in. This is my second chance to live and I don’t want to blow it.”