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Wales rugby international Rhys Thomas is fighting for his life as he pins his hopes on a heart transplant.

The seven-times capped prop forward suffered a massive heart attack during a Scarlets training session in January 2012.

Father-of-four Thomas underwent a quadruple by-pass after the shock incident with surgeons battling for seven hours to save his life.

It was the second heart attack he had suffered during his playing career, coming six years after he sustained a mild attack following a match for former club Newport Gwent Dragons.

The 31-year-old was forced to retire from playing because of his health problems, which have now worsened. His heart isn’t functioning fully and he now needs a transplant.

Thomas is suffering from pulmonary hypertension – a severe disease associated with heart failure that can lead to an increase in blood pressure and which can cause a shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, leg swelling and other symptoms.

Unless the pressure is reduced he cannot be put on the waiting list for a transplant.

Thomas’ medical team in the specialist heart unit at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital hope the fitting of a special pump – a left ventricular assist device which is fitted outside the body and will take over many of the functions of his heart – will enable him to be well enough to be placed on the transplant list.

The procedure

Before that happens, the Welsh National Health Service must agree to fund it because the procedure would be taking place over the border in England.

“They hope to do that next month if they are given the go-ahead in regards to the NHS here agreeing to pay for it. They have applied for funding,” said Thomas.

“This pump isn’t cheap and it’s a last resort because they have tried everything else for me.

“They hope the pump will bring the pressure down and I will get well enough to be put on the list for a transplant.

“It’s my only hope of getting a new heart. I try not to think about it. When I was worrying about it I was having anxiety attacks, which were making me worse.

The operation

“The odds are not the best for this operation, they are about 70-30 but the more you dwell on stuff like that the more you think you are going to die and not going to see your kids.

“I’m just going to crack on. I have been to South Africa to see my folks and my mates.

“I have good days and bad days but I’m never great. Some days I can walk 50m, other days it’s a few metres.”

Thomas and his wife Paula live in Langstone, near Newport, with seven-year-old son Kai and daughter Morgan, eight. He also has a step-daughter, 18-year-old Ashleigh, and step-son Ethan, 15.

“Morgan gets a little bit upset. She knows I am ill. I can’t give her a piggyback or do the things I would like with them,” said Thomas.

“My wife has been as good as gold but there’s a lot of stress on her shoulders, on all of my family.

“She obviously doesn’t want to think about the worst-case scenario and the recovery process. I have been there before, after my last heart attack, and it’s not easy, it’s hard.

“If the pump works and I’m put back on the list for a transplant I’d have to wait for a suitable donor. That could take weeks, months, years or might never happen.”

Watch: Rhys Thomas in action - the prop scores a try for Scarlets against Connacht

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His Parc y Scarlets horror

Thomas, who made his Wales debut in Argentina in June 2006 and his final appearance in Rome against Italy five years ago, was forced to retire from rugby after dramatically collapsing in front of horrified team-mates at Parc y Scarlets.

“I was just on one of the training bikes doing a cardio session and speaking to Morgan Stoddart,” he recalled.

“Suddenly I felt really dizzy. I managed to get across the gym to the physio room but I was struggling to stand.

“The physios managed to give me oxygen but then the chest pain came on and I knew then I was having a heart attack. I was hoping it wasn’t too bad but it turned out it was.”

He was rushed to Swansea’s Morriston Hospital and under-went life-saving surgery.

“I didn’t really understand what was happening at the time but it wasn’t long before the anaesthetic kicked in and I woke up two-and-a-half days later.

“My surgeon told me that when he opened my chest he didn’t think I was going to make the operation. That’s when it hit home how close I was to dying.

“I didn’t have underlying heart disease or a family history so it came out of nowhere.

“I just had a spontaneous tear of an artery, which could be from a number of things. They were just not sure why.

“The previous one was put down to an impact from a match but this time I had not played for a couple of weeks.”

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