Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Two years ago my wife suffered a cardiac arrest at home.  Five paramedics worked on her for 40 minutes to stabilise her condition.  It was only the fact that I had been trained in CPR and knew what to do immediately, along with the perseverance of the paramedics that gave her a fighting chance when she arrived at hospital.  She then spent two weeks in Intensive Care in an induced coma, followed by four weeks in a specialist cardiac unit.  She had an ICD (Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator) wired into her heart that will intervene to restore a normal rhythm if her heart misbehaves again.

As part of her cardiac rehabilitation she is supported by Heartbeat, a charity that delivers exercise, clinical testing, education, advice, support and training to children, young people and adults across Lancashire.  Heartbeat supports 950 people in 116 classes every week.  Heartbeat needs to raise £1,000,000 to continue this vital work.

Two years on, I'm now happy to say that due to the ongoing support of Heartbeat, my wife continues her road to recovery.

Having seen at first hand the difference that Heartbeat makes to people's lives, I would like to ask you to kindly sponsor me on the Leeds & Liverpool 130-mile Canal Race, to raise funds to allow Heartbeat to continue to help as many people as possible.

The canal race starts at 6am on Saturday 28th August.  This is a non-stop event and participants have a maximum of 40 hours to complete the 130-mile run, which is the equivalent of five marathons.   Further details of the event can be found on canalrace.org.uk.  

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you - Mark.