On 3 November I sat reading your article “Behind the scenes at Mater Dei: services that merit more attention”.

When I came across the word perfusionist, I realised I had never heard of the word. Neither had my two sons, so I carried on reading. Now here is the peculiar thing: I have just undergone a bypass operation at Mater Dei. I then thought how many of us think twice about the people who work there such as the aforementioned person, the nurses, doctors, surgeons and so on, not to forget the office caterers and cleaners among others. We go in feeling unwell and nine times out of 10 leave well and cured. Then we go home and carry on with our lives until the next time we need these services. Sorry to say that I too can be accused of this. But not any more; that is for sure. Yes, I met Joseph Galea before the operation and he explained in detail why I needed it. Never having given a thought to all the others, when I sat and pondered, I realised I not only need to thank all these people but also need to thank the perfusionist who held my life more or less in his hands and made my heart beat once more. Many thanks to all these people as well as to the Maltese government who built and paid for this marvellous hospital.

Pam Crawford

St Paul’s Bay