CARDIAC patients are urged to hug a heart to help their recovery in a pioneering scheme believed to be the first in the UK.

Patients attending Darlington Primary Care Trust's cardiac rehabilitation scheme are being given a huggable foam cushion designed to help with pain after a heart operation.

The red heart-shaped cushions have been made and donated by Flo Pearson, 63, of Darlington, whose partner, Brian Mills, underwent triple heart bypass surgery in November last year.

Mr Mills started feeling ill on a flight to the US and, four days into the holiday, was diagnosed with pneumonia. A build-up of fluid in his lungs caused him to have a heart attack.

After his operation in Branson, Missouri, Mr Mills woke to find a heart-shaped cushion on his bed, which his nurses told him to hug tight whenever he needed to move.

The 74-year-old said: "The cushion was brilliant. Trying to move about after the operation was very painful, but if I gripped the cushion tight to my chest when I moved, there was no pain, and it was so much easier to sit up.

"It gave me much more confidence to move around and helped speed up my recovery."

On his return home, Mr Mills was referred to the Darlington Community Heart Programme (CHP) at Eastbourne Leisure Centre, where he told the coronary heart disease team about the cushions.

Barbara Conway, Darlington Primary Care Trust's CHP team leader, said: "I thought it was a fantastic idea."

She said that because the breast bone was cut in surgery, heart patients were often in pain after an operation, particularly when sneezing, coughing and laughing.

She said: "Hugging the cushion tight helps to relieve the vast majority of the pain and enables the patient to move about more easily.

"I had heard of people holding on to soft toys or rolled up towels before, but this was the first time I had heard of a specially designed cushion being used."

Ms Pearson and her daughter-in-law, Anne-Marie Bainbridge, who was born with a hole in her heart, have now made more than 20 cushions to give to patients in Darlington after operations.

Mrs Conway said: "Our consultants at the hospital think it is a great idea and our local coronary support group is looking to support the idea further.

"We have also spoken to the cardiac network group, who are very interested in the cushions so, hopefully, more and more heart patients will be able to benefit in the future."