Ex-councillor vows to return to Havering politics after double organ transplant
Mark Logan has vowed to return to politics. - Credit: Archant
An ex-councillor who was “sacked” from his post after being unable to attend council meetings due to serious illness has vowed to return to politics following a double transplant operation.
Mark Logan, 54, said: “They got rid of me but you can’t keep a good man down, I will return for the next election.”
He survived a mid-surgery heart attack and says he is recovering well following the operation to replace one of his failing kidneys and his pancreas.
Previously a member of the Independent Residents’ Group (IRG), Mr Logan suffers from diabetes which caused kidney failure.
He failed to attend council meetings for six months and in December was automatically removed from his post.
He argued he was too unwell to attend meetings which often clashed with the dialysis he had three times a week.
Mr Logan, who represented Rainham and Wennington, was released from hospital on Saturday after spending two weeks in hospital.
Most Read
- 1 Daughter pulls father out of care home after 'fall leaves him bedbound'
- 2 New three-storey building with flats looking to be built behind disused Rainham pub
- 3 The Hop Inn: Hornchurch pub named best in London for second year running
- 4 Court: Romford mum died from Covid-19 after Queen's Hospital failings, inquest hears
- 5 Man stabbed in Harold Hill
- 6 'Really proud’: Hornchurch mother tackles English Channel in relay swim for charity
- 7 London Assembly: TfL urged to rethink plans to cut 78 bus routes
- 8 Romford mother lived in squalor after mental health 'failings', court hears
- 9 Havering A Level results 2022: Live updates for borough's schools
- 10 London Fire Brigade Cadets on-hand to help Wennington residents trim hedges and clear up their gardens
Mr Logan, of Central Drive, Hornchurch, said: “I was running out of time.
“It was the eighth time I have been called up, every time the organs were of no use.
“Now it’s going to be a slow healing process but I feel like I’ve won the lottery.
“I am definitely going to return. I will be coming back. I miss politics.
“I won’t miss the meetings now as I am no longer on dialysis.”
The local elections are due to be held on May 22 and IRG leader Cllr Jeff Tucker has until April 25 to register Mr Logan.
Cllr Tucker said: “I almost cried on the phone, it’s the greatest news I have ever heard.
“I told him ‘I didn’t think you would make it’ but he did. He has waited so long and he’s been so poorly.
“I want to see how he recovers but he can be confident he will get my support.
“He’s already talking about taking on issues at the council and we are going to fight back.”
