Artificial heart man who has to be plugged in to stay alive

A fitness fanatic who has an electric artificial heart has to keep himself topped up on long car journeys - by plugging into the cigarette lighter. Chris Marshall, 50, walks around with a backpack full of batteries and connects himself to the mains when he sleeps at night. He suffered a near-fatal heart attack three years ago and underwent a series of gruelling procedures to correct his faulty heart and narrow valves. But last year his heart capacity plummeted to just 13 per cent and he was fitted with a device which acts as an artificial heart, pumping blood around his body.