Charles Chauvel says he glad to be on the other side of surgery. Picture: Facebook. Charles Chauvel is making good progress after having open heart surgery in New York. The former Labour MP and NZ AIDS Foundation chair has posted on Facebook, thanking all those who have sent him supportive messages, and offering an update on his health. “My cardiologist told me just before Xmas that my congenital heart murmur and obstruction had deteriorated quite badly - wasn't sure why but I'd known it was likely to happen at some point,” he writes. “Went into St Luke's Roosevelt last Tuesday morning up by Columbia University and had open heart surgery Wednesday - mainly a septal ablation to cut away 2cm of thickened tissue, and a procedure to correct an arrhythmia that had developed. “Apart from feeling pretty sore and looking ahead to a period of rehab, I'm doing well and the medical staff seem to think I'm making good progress. Glad to be on the other side of the surgery!” Chauvel was a Labour MP from 2006 till 2013 and a proud member of the Rainbow Labour team. An openly-gay man, he was a tireless advocate on lgbti issues, with the Homosexual Law Reform Bill sparking his decision to join Labour as a teenager. He now works with the United Nations Development Programme, based in New York.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 10th February 2015 - 9:30am