On Friday 23rd December 2016 our Mum, Carole Johnson, perfectly healthy and at the age of 56, died suddenly at home from a cardiac arrest, caused by a little known medical incident called Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). This dissection occurs when one of more of the three inner layers of a coronary artery in your heart tears away from the outer layer. The torn flap of arterial wall creates a hematoma or blockage in blood flow to your heart, leading to angina, a heart attack, or in Mum's case, sudden cardiac arrest.

Very little is known about this fairly rare condition, but 80% of the known cases are in women. And 30% of the cases are in women in their third trimester or in someone who has recently given birth. SCAD affects the young, fit and healthy and can happen at any moment.

In 2014 the British Heart Foundation funded the UK's first ever research project into SCAD, at the NIHR Leicester Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit, part of the University of Leicester. This pioneering research project, lead by Dr David Adlam, is aimed at trying to help find answers about this condition.

That's why on Sunday 19th March our family are taking part in the Dronfield 10K in memory of Mum/Carole while helping to raise money for the British Heart Foundation to support them in all the great work they do with this, and many other, devastating conditions. Any donation will be truly appreciated. Thank you.