A man has given flowers to a medical professional who discovered he had an irregular heart rhythm.

Kevin Stearns was suffering from shortness of breath when he went for a routine check up at University Hospital Lewisham.

Senior cardiac physiologist Tineke Dalton conducted an echocardiogram of Mr Stearns' heart and noticed something wasn't right.

Ms Dalton said: “Whilst I was doing the test I noticed that Kevin’s heart went up to 150 beats per minute which is certainly not what it is supposed to do! So after the echocardiogram I performed another test, called an ECG, which looks at the electrical activity of the heart.

“Kevin told me he had had a previous ECG and it was all okay, however I knew that it is possible to go in and out of irregular heart rhythms so it was important to get evidence if this was the case. So I went to get advice from our cardiologist and Kevin had to go straight to A&E for treatment.

“Kevin was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) which is a condition which causes a ‘fluttering’ sensation in the chest so Kevin may not have felt this as his heart was beating too fast.

“AF can lead to other problems such as a heart attack or stroke so it was really fortunate that it was happening as I was doing the test so it could be diagnosed and treated. Consultants in A&E gave him a medicine which brought his heart rate down and moving forwards Kevin will have to take specific drugs to manage his condition.”

Mr Stearns did not forget Ms Dalton's good work. He decided to send flowers to say thank you.

Mr Stearns said: “My appointment with Tineke was routine and I was expecting to go back to work in the afternoon so I was really surprised when I then ended up in A&E for several hours with a suspected irregular heart rhythm. I had been feeling fine and my blood pressure was OK and I couldn’t feel a thing even when my heart was going really fast.

“My feeling is that credit should go where credit is due and Tineke found something that I wasn’t aware of and so now it can be managed. I am very grateful for this and so sending her flowers is the least I could do. I send flowers to my wife at her work all the time and that’s just the way I am.”

Ms Dalton said: “I was at work one day and was so surprised when someone came in with a delivery and it was for me! And then I opened the box and it was full of these beautiful flowers from Kevin so I was just really thrilled.

“This is the first bunch of flowers I have received for just doing my job and I am so pleased that Kevin is now getting the right treatment for his condition.”