SCOTLAND'S first heart transplant patient was sitting at the side of

his bed yesterday admitting to being ''very sore'' but taking time to

thank everyone involved in the historic operation.

Mr Charlie Carlyon, 55, from Uphall, West Lothian, received a new

heart in a six-hour operation at the new transplant unit in Glasgow

Royal Infirmary on Thursday.

Yesterday he was sitting out of bed taking a breakfast of porridge and

passing messages of warm thanks to his wife and family and to the

medical team who have given him a new life.

Mrs Margaret Carlyon, 52, was joined by her 24-year-old son Keith in

passing those messages on shortly after seeing her husband in the

intensive care unit of the new #1.25m unit.

She said: ''He is very, very well at the moment. I could hardly

believe how well he looked when I went to see him after the operation.

His colour is great and his spirit is good. His first words were: 'I'm

very sore but feeling very good.' For so long we have had to live in

hope and take each day as it comes but now we have been given new

hope.''

Mrs Carlyon, who works in the accounts department of local firm

Trentham, paid special tribute to the family of the heart donor and

added: ''I hope that they know that while we are happy with the new life

Charlie has been given we share their grief in the loss of a loved one.

''My one major message today is that people must consider becoming a

donor because they will do an enormous amount of good if they can bring

the kind of hope that has been brought to this family this week.''

She spoke of ''going through Hell'' when two visits to Newcastle's

Freeman Hospital transplant unit ended with possible donor hearts being

unsuitable.

Mrs Carlyon added: ''Since Charlie's serious heart attack we have been

taking each day at a time and I was told recently that his condition was

getting worse and that it was important that a transplant operation was

done as soon as possible.

''We had tremendous support from Keith and our daughter Fiona and from

the local community. Everyone has rallied round and we took time to

raise money by selling garden gnomes which we made for St John's

Hospital in Livingston where Charlie received such great treatment.''

Both Mr and Mrs Carlyon are elders in Strathbrock Church in Uphall and

work with the local young people. She said: ''We had faith that

something would come along and it has.''

Keith, a greenkeeper at Deer Park Golf and Country Club in Livingston,

said: ''It has been hard to cope with all the attention surrounding my

father but I am happy the family has stuck together and we look forward

to having him home.''

Mrs Carlyon expressed her disappointment at the conduct of some

sections of the press and added: ''I could have done without some of the

early morning phone calls and visits and frankly it is far more

important for us as a family to take time to thank everyone involved

rather than discuss what we might be paid for saying certain things in

certain newspapers.''

Mr Carlyon, a former industrial worker and postman, is now in the most

critical stage of his recovery -- his wife said that doctors had

described the complex surgery as the easy part -- and he will be closely

monitored for many months for signs of rejection. He will also take

drugs to allow him a normal life.

Mrs Carlyon said: ''Charlie has no special plans when he gets home

apart from to enjoy every moment of his new life. Not many people get a

second chance and we all plan to make the most of it.''

The operation was carried out at the Scottish Heart Lung Transplant

Unit within the Royal Infirmary, by unit head Professor David Wheatley

and surgeon Mr David Richens. Both men yesterday expressed ''enormous

satisfaction'' at the progress of the unit's first patient.