Scottish mountaineer and television presenter Cameron McNeish has returned to hiking, just three weeks after having a double heart bypass.
The outdoors enthusiast revealed he had major surgery last month after suffering from angina for the last few years. The 73-year-old had a double heart bypass and aortic valve replacement operation at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
He said his heart problems had limited his activities in recent times but he is now back walking on trails and hopes to take his granddaughters up their first Munro in the summer. The veteran climber said: “Three weeks ago I was in an operating theatre in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being kept alive by a machine while a brilliant team of NHS nurses, doctors and surgeons fitted me out with a new aortic heart valve.
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“While they were at it they bypassed a couple of blocked arteries with some veins taking from my left leg. I’ve been getting out and about again over the past week or so as part of my fitness campaign to get back on the hills by late spring or early summer.
“Over the past five years or so I have suffered from angina due to some partially blocked coronary arteries. It effectively put paid to climbing the bigger hills that I love so much.
“Towards the end of January I was aware I was getting much slower and things came to a head when the angina symptoms just didn’t go away.”
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He added: “I was walking gently within a week of surgery and I can now trudge out for three or four miles at a time.
“I have promised to take my two granddaughters up their first Munro this coming summer so that’s the target. I have also promised to join my wife Gina for a wander up the West Highland Way later on in the summer.
“My unexpected brush with open heart surgery was actually a positive thing. The blocked pipes have been fixed, the sticky valve has been replaced and hopefully I might be good for another few thousand miles on the clock of life.
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“Our wonderful NHS has allowed me to squeeze a few more years out of this wonderful outdoor life that has been so good to me for such a long time and for that I will be eternally grateful.”
McNeish announced his retirement from TV presenting in 2019 and now runs his own YouTube channel where he posts videos exploring Scotland’s outdoors. He had been making TV shows since 1993, starting with the Bafta-winning The Edge – 100 Years of Scottish Mountaineering. Two six-part series of Wilderness Walks for BBC Two soon followed.
He then began his 12-year association with the popular BBC programme, The Adventure Show. More recently, he starred in Roads Less Travelled, in which he toured Scotland in his red camper van.
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
