Most people would be taking it easy two weeks after pioneering heart surgery, but strongman Kamil Wojniak was back in the gym and fighting his way to full fitness.

The father-of-two, from Gravesend, underwent an operation to replace an aortic heart valve without the need to split the breastbone – the first time such surgery has been performed in the UK.

Mr Wojniak, 30, had just been crowned London’s Strongest Man when he was diagnosed with a leaking aortic valve.

He said the skills of the heart team at St Thomas’ Hospital in London had saved his career.

He said: “After the competition I started getting very short of breath, especially during training sessions.

“I visited my GP and he sent me to my local hospital, where I was told I needed to be rushed to St Thomas’ for open-heart surgery.

“I was distraught. I thought my career was finished.

“Training and competing is my entire life and I knew that there would be no chance of me competing again if my breastbone was broken.”

Mr Wojniak, who lives with wife Sandra and their children Laura, six, and Oliver, three, was placed under the care of consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Vinayak Bapat in November last year.

He and his team of anaesthetists, nurses, and heart and lung machine technicians, are the only team in the UK trained to perform anterior right thoracotomy (ART) operations.

The technique involves making a 5cm to 6cm keyhole opening in the chest, rather than cutting the breastbone down the middle to gain access to the heart.

Mr Bapat said the traditional method would have brought an end to Mr Wojniak’s weightlifting career because splitting the breastbone would have weakened his chest too much.

Mr Bapat said: “Although initially I was concerned about how such a small incision would work on a patient with such a large muscle mass, the CT scan showed no reasons why Kamil would not benefit from the ART operation.”

The aortic valve controls the flow of blood out of the heart’s left ventricle and around the rest of the body.

Mr Wojniak’s ART operation took three hours and he was in hospital for four days. Two weeks after his surgery he was back in the gym, and he is now setting his sights on winning the World’s Strongest Man title next year.

“It felt so good to be back in the gym doing what I love,” he said. “Mr Bapat has given me a second chance to succeed.

“I’m determined that I am going to win the World’s Strongest Man title for him. He saved my life and my career and I cannot thank him enough.”

Dr James Coutts, clinical director of cardiovascular services at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “This development in cardiac surgery is a huge step forward for the UK.

“It puts us at the forefront of medical research and development, which improves patient care and saves lives.”