Cardiac health scanner worker Amy Sherwood detects her own heart tumour 14 August 2013 Last updated at 17:26 A hospital worker who scans hearts discovered her own heart tumour during a routine training exercise. Amy Sherwood, 33, an echocardiographer at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, was acting as a Guinea pig with a colleague when she spotted the growth. Ms Sherwood became one of just a few patients in the UK to receive keyhole heart surgery to remove the tumour, which meant a shorter recovery period. Two weeks after the operation, she married her fiance Simon Bowden. Ms Sherwood was stunned to discover the tumour. "Although I've been carrying out echocardiograms on patients for a number of years, never in my working life did I imagine that I would find a problem with my own heart - especially so close to my wedding day," she said. This new technique uses a small incision on the right side of the chest to give access to the heart End Quote Paul Modi Consultant cardiac surgeon Just a couple of days after discovering the shadow, I was taken straight into theatre and surgeons performed a minimally invasive procedure to remove the tumour. Ms Sherwood was immediately referred to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. She underwent the keyhole procedure, instead of open heart surgery, which meant she recovered in time to get married two weeks later. Consultant cardiac surgeon Paul Modi said the traditional technique would require a three month recovery period. "Clearly, Amy would not have recovered for her wedding day with this and would have had a visible scar on the front of her chest," he said. Minimal visible scarring However this new technique uses a small incision on the right side of the chest to give access to the heart and a high-definition video camera is then used to guide the procedure inside. This type of surgery is a significant advance for the treatment of selected heart tumours as it leaves minimal visible scarring and allows patients to return to regular activities within three weeks. Ms Sherwood married Mr Bowden at St Alban's Church in Tattenhall, Cheshire, last Saturday. Before jetting off on honeymoon, she said: "There's no way I would have recovered sufficiently to make it down the aisle if a traditional surgical procedure had been performed. I'm just so grateful for the quality of care and treatment that I received from Mr Modi and all his team, which helped to ensure that my wedding was even more special.