Yorkshire artist Pete McKee thanks 'amazing' NHS staff for saving his life for third time

The cartoonist was diagnosed with end stage liver disease, also known as cirrhosis, in 2015 and was given a life-saving liver transplant in Leeds in 2017.

He then underwent another serious operation in 2019, when he was in surgery for more than seven hours.

On Sunday (Oct 17), the 55-year-old has tweeted from his bed in the ICU to thank the ‘utterly amazing’ team at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield for saving his life for a third time, after discovering he had severe heart failure.

He wrote: “Well here I am in ICU and for the 3rd time in 4 years the wonderful NHS has saved my life. This time I’ve had my heart value replacement. Thank you to everyone in the cardiology team at the Northern General for looking after me & being utterly amazing.

"When I went for my liver transplant They discovered I had a genetic heart condition. A bicuspid aortic valve which had become calcified. It had become severe heart failure over the last few months so now I have a brand new mechanical valve fitted.”

The tweet featured alongside a picture of Pete in his hospital bed, hooked up to a number of machines.

The former supermarket worker and postman is internationally recognised for his gritty cartoon style and some of his big name fans include Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys.

He has created a number of famous murals across Sheffield, which have become the subject of debate in recent months.

Fans were up in arms after two of his iconic paintings on city centre streets were covered over – with some saying it was “like getting rid of Banksy”.

His mural of a dog with its nose in a packet of biscuits, called ‘Frank’, was found to be almost completely covered up a by an awning on Burton Street back in August.

And just a week later, eagle-eyed fans spotted his painting ‘Muriel’, on the site of The Art House on Carver Street, had been almost completely covered up by builders' temporary cabins.