Just before 10 a.m. on Saturday 9th February 2019, Brian O’Donohue died.

Brian was 60 and previously had a history of cardiac problems. He had, however, become a bit of a ‘gym bunny’, so much so that he was doing his second, back-to-back fitness class at the High Wycombe Lido gym that morning. He had a heart attack.

Is it good or bad luck that comes in threes? Brian’s first bit of luck was that a nurse was in a fitness class at the gym. She was made aware of what had happened to Brian, got hold of the gym's defibrillator and within minutes had restarted Brian's heart and maintained CPR. Brian’s second piece of luck was that a doctor, who had been visiting her parents locally and had taken advantage of the Wycombe Rye 5K Park Run that morning, was swimming at the Lido. She was also told about Brian’s problem and she administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Thames Valley Air Ambulance responded to the emergency call that followed Brian’s collapse, completing his triple-whammy of good fortune that late winter morning. 

Brian survived and, at the time of writing, was awaiting essential cardiac surgery. 

The nurse was my wife, Amanda. Don't get me wrong, I know she’s wonderful, but this just made me realise how fragile life is and how important it is that we have people like her, the doctor and the air ambulance teams available to help us when we need them.

I ran the Paris Marathon last year and I'm doing it again on Sunday 14th April this year. Unlike some other marathons I didn't need a charity fund-raising place to secure the opportunity to run, so this felt like a great opportunity to do something positive after what Amanda and those other everyday heroes did. 

This page is for you to donate to Rennie Grove Hospice Care, the charity for which Amanda works. Please do that for Brian, or for Amanda, or just because it's an excellent cause.