A Change of Heart is a documentary based on a video diary which Bill Long kept when he was first advised by his doctors that he should consider a heart transplant.
In 1995, Bill, a 63 year old writer and lecturer suffered a series of heart attacks and was eventually admitted to the coronary Care Unit of St. Vincent's Hospital Dublin. He had a history of heart disease and 9 years earlier had had a successful quadruple by-pass. However, he was now diagnosed as suffering from Cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle caused by a biochemical defect. His choice was to spend the rest of his life on a cocktail of drugs and be a semi-invalid, or have a heart transplant. The alternative of a second-hand life subsisting on medication and meagre diets was unthinkable.
The impulse to create A Change of Heart came out of a desire by Bill Long to help the many people living with, not just heart disease, but other serious illnesses, to encourage them to cope and to have a more positive attitude towards their conditions.