First of all can i say that the information i am posting in this forum is to give you some information to the drivers who say IT WONT HAPPEN TO ME well it will so take care heres my story
In january 2004 i got a job working as a tramper for a big corporate company money was good hours were the useual 600 hours a wek but i enjoyed the job getting paid for driving all over the country i could take home £ 600.00 a week on a regular basis everything in the garden was looking rosey and driving legal as well this was until january 2005 when ( BANG )have some of that pain like you would never belive in short a heart attack any way i got back to my home location and was addmitted to hospital straight away it was confirmed that i had indeed had a heart attack but this was my second they missed the first so did i after a short spell in hospital namely 5 days and a stent inserted in to one of my main three arties yes i know there are 4 but i only have three ( i know there is always one and im it ) anyway it took me nearley 18 months to get some form of work or another first of all if you are on the sick for a long time you get put on incerpacity benefit after 6 months then they hound you to get another job now i was still employed by my former company nobody had sacked me and nobody suggested that i should get the sack but due to my condition but i could no longer do the job i had done all my life which i loved doing so i decide that i would not let this get me down so to keep the D.W.P off my back i started to apply for jobs driving a little van delivering car parts paint etc etc 8 till 5 this would do had the interview yes great an ex H.G.V class 1 driver dont like L.G.V ( sorry old school ) just what we are looking for when can you start straight away but i think i should tell you that i have had 2 heart attacks and i now suffer from angina and i am on heart tablets for the rest off my life ( it’s a ball ) Ah right no problem but we have got a few more people to see we will let you know 30 seconds before i told them this i had got the job ( no biast there then ) and so the story goes on every time yes tell them my problems and i can hear the doors slaming not detered by this i rang up the D.V.L.A. i have heard that i can get my class 1 back yes came the reply all you have to do is walk on a treadmill for 9 minuets no problem the hospital appiontment was made i did the 9 minuets and gained my class 1 back HOORAY not so fast hold the celerations right there i start to get the same reaction from the industrey i have been in all my life from yard boy ( dont have them anymore ) to class 1 driver the only thing that is different is the replys i get i am very sorry but our insurance does not cover drivers with illness what a load of s"*^ that is now i can hear you all saying well dont tell them even the D.W.P are saying dont tell them right then let’s look at health and safety at work then shall we you are responserable for yours and others health and safety were you work or you are visiting guess were i work and you yes on the queens highway so if i dont tell them and i have another heart attack which the doctors have said may happen at anytime or may not no one will commite them selfs ( put it in writing ) and i have an accident injuring or god forbid kill someone the employer will say he never told me he had a heart condition who do you think they will sue ( ME ) so you see under health and safety i am sure i do have to tell them i am fine as long as i take my medication everyday ( WITHOUT FAIL )so can anyone tell me what is the legal side in all of this can they refuse to employ me because of my heart condition, do insurance companies refuse employers to set anyone on witrh a heart condition and do i have a legal abligation to tell them i have a heart condition i mean i know some drivers who are so over weight they can’t walk for 9 mins on a treadmill mill and they have’nt had a herat attack but they are as unfit as they come it was only my life style that gave this attack i do not smoke or never have but often had dinner or breakfast on a stick rember i started in this game when it was log books no tacos then and it was drivers hours what are them then so before you tuck into your allday breakfast remember like the lottery said IT COULD BE YOU i am still trying to get back into driving 44 tonners but i feel so let down by the industrey that i gave my all to i am not trying to frighten anyone out there all i am saying is think before you eat i would be gratfull if any one can advice me thank you for taking the time to reaad this post if you know of any jobs going no hanball or multi drop i live in stoke-on-trent a big transport city
I’ll leave this here for now so that it gets a good response, but it will move to the Health Forum later this evening, so get anwering folks! 
Well knightflyer it looks like we are both in the same boat in the same city. though you are a bit further down the road than me as I am still waiting for the treadmill test appointment to see if I can get my hgv back. If this is what I have got to look forward to it make’s you wonder if it’s worth it. Best of luck with your search for work. Cheers Jeff
Just to give you an insite jeff the 9 mins is a doddle it’s the 12 mins that the killer the mill does1.2 mph then inclines 2.4 mph up again 3.5 mph up again 5,6 mph the last one is bad you are walking faster and by now up asteep gradient best of luck mate ( phil )
I will ask ‘heartattack steve’ monday night when i see him for any info he can offer as he is still working and as you can probably guess from his nickname he’s had two and both at work, he’s been back at work 4 weeks now after having six weeks off after the second attack (asfaik they were close to each other)
He was telling me the other night that the doc wasnt happy he was driving HGV’s and Steve said “but you told me i could go back to work after six weeks” and the doc replied “yes but i didn’t know you drove lorry’s then” And the long and short of it now is the doc wants him to lose his licence the doc contacted the DVLA and has arranged for the treadmill test and stuff.
So i’ll ask what he knows relating to insurance cover when i see him
I’ve got everything crossed for constant Heart’s attacks tomorrow night. The more the better. FTH
I really sympathise with you Phil, my situation being nowhere near as serious as yours. A couple of years ago I felt awful-went to see doc-angina diagnosed- D.V.L.A. informed- ordered to do treadmill test-failed-had 2 stents put in-retook treadmill test-passed-got licence back, the point is that the D.V.L.A. consider I am fit enough to drive again and thats it, I have my licence back and am probably at less risk of having a heart attack than before. The D.V.L.A. do not mark your licence as holder being more liable than average of having repeat attacks do they. I saw a driver the other day going up the steps in to his cab one at a time!!! how fit is he■■? I have a retest in December and am not worried cos I still feel just great. Good luck.
P.S. I was working 3 days a week at the time doing deliveries for B.T. through an agency, B.T. kept me on working on 7.5 tonners, vans or in the warehouse, the traffic managers attitude when I got my licence back was that if the D.V.L.A. considered me fit enough to drive H.G.V.s then so did they.
Thanks chas you have reinstalled a bit of faith for me in the industry just one thing though you say you are at less risk of having another attack dont want to put a damper on things but you are at a higher risk than someone who has’nt had one i know what you mean about the driver going up his steps one at a time they gave me my licence back but it only lasts for 3 years and not the useual 5 and we have to take the treadmill test again if it was made compulsary there would be a lot of drivers job about i am just trying to keep you all safe thats why i put the post on some mug will employ me oneday BTW do you know you are now classed as a disabled person
All i can tell you coffeeholic is when you get an attack it will hurt you a lot while you are in pain if you are not dead you will wish you were get a mate to hit as hard has they can in the middle of your chest with a tyre lever that level of pain then times it by 5 and you will be fairly close dont wish it on yourself mate you may just get what you wish for and i would not wish that on anybody BTW your tears will flow like a river
But of course if you cant be bothered to respond to my offer then i cant be arsed to ask my mate
Sorry reef bit of a delay computer is driven by steam may get an electric one when i have lerned how to use this one he should not be driving at all he is in breach of the regulations following a heart attack or angina attack you must by law inform the D.V.L.A straight away it is his resposerbilaty not the doctors they will stop him from driving NOW not tomorrow he must then be pain free for 6 weeks then he can apply to have his licence back they will send him a form to fill in and send back to them then they will make an appointment for him to take a treadmill test at the hospital and when and only when he passes that they will give him his licence back if he has not reported this to his transport manager then you or someone else must and the transport manager must not let him drive he can drive his car if you want to reef print this of and show him or your transport manager but he is breaking the law under some road traffic act D.V.L.A will tell you which one
I did not know nor do I consider myself to be disabled. I Joined a gym and go twice a week regular, just doing cardio stuff, it is hard sometimes but I know it is all for the good, also our little dog gets fed up with accompanying me across the fields for walkies. I am very careful about what I eat now, I hope you do these things too. I now get some awful looking bruises from what seem little knocks and I bleed very easily, I presume you are the same. Please do not give up looking for work, have you thought about trying the agencies in your area, ask around, find a good one, see if you can get the odd day here and there, you may get your foot in someones door and not look back, I hope so
“keep taking the tablets”
Yes i get all that and then some my dog too is fed up doing walkies with me but it is good for both of us you are right about the disabled bit nither me or you are disabled but we are classed as disabled one thing i have learned is when i do drive is hay if they unload it they do if they dont then they dont i just ring in and take it back got a days work tomorrow going london central infact W1 area keep your radio tuned into sally traffic no stress in london i dont think
I will be in London too but not W1 thank god, have 26 pallets of crisps (less than 4 tonne) to take to Londis Thamesmead. Take care.
well all you guys, just to let you know its not all doom and gloom out there.I had my heart attack in 1999. it was a big one (they told my wife to get my mother and family up from suffolk). no chest pain just trouble breathing and felt like crap. anyway 12 weeks later Iwas p[assed fit by dvla and back in the truck heading for italy.bit scary to start withlike what happens if im ill down here etc. just got on with it did what doctors said regarding pills diet exercise etc … anyway 8 years down the line im fine just get a bit tired sometimes and now setting up with my own truck.never ever let them grind you down and if you dont like what they tell you ask for a second oppinion.good luck