The sister of a former Bradford man who had a life-saving heart swap in Australia is to visit her brother on the other side of the world.

Jackie Blackburn, who is three years older than brother Stephen, will spend seven weeks with him in the Australian city of Melbourne.

The 35-year-old underwent a heart transplant on November 21 - and spent only ten days in hospital. Jackie said his condition is now good, and regular hospital checks have been reduced to fortnightly.

"We had thought of going at the back end of the year but we decided to go for it now," said Jackie, of Clayton Heights, Bradford, who also travelled to Australia in September after her brother was found to have the life-threatening heart condition called cardiomyopathy.

Steve had emigrated from Clayton Heights with wife Janine and daughters Ashleigh and Bethan in February last year, unaware of the illness which made a transplant essential. "He now has to go back to hospital every two weeks for heart biopsies and other tests," said Jackie. "I really miss him and it's great for him to see faces from home."

Before Steve had his operation, Bradford friends and regulars of the Nag's Head pub in Clayton raised funds for him and his family to help them over the difficult time when Steve was ill.

Jackie said one of the fundraisers and Steve's good friend, Neil Magee, had also returned from a trip to Australia which had included a visit to the former Bradford Council joiner.

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