MY Christmas would have been far from merry this year, and my New Year spent in mourning, if it were not for the endeavours of the Welsh medical profession in saving my father’s life.

The paramedics made a swift diagnosis of a heart attack and rushed him to Cardiff University Hospital Wales, where he had surgery followed by monitoring in the cardiac care unit while he awaited a second procedure. Christmas has been tough for the family this year, but without the care and expertise of these humanitarian men and women it would have been much worse. We have much to be grateful for, and I cannot do justice in words for the appreciation and admiration I feel towards all the staff involved. They are heroes in the truest sense of the word, and every day they show up for work, they make the world a better place for everyone in their deepest vulnerabilities and their most desperate times of need. I would like to wish all of the Argus readers a very Happy New Year.

Paul C Neilson Dorset Cresent Newport