In December 2019 my mum, Susan Scott, very suddenly lost her life to an undiagnosed heart condition. 6 months later my older brother, Sam Scott, also very suddenly lost his life to a different heart condition. To say that the grief was crippling is an unfortunate understatement - to so quickly have your life turned upside changes everything about the world around you. I struggled with figuring out how to cope until one morning in January 2021 when I woke up and decided to fundraise for a year doing fitness challenges in their memory.

Over the course of that year I climbed mountains, swam in oceans, ran a marathon, all while talking about my grief and the need for happy, healthy outlets. I raised almost £6000 for the British Heart Foundation (Scotland). That money went to the BHF (Scotland) at a really difficult time, supporting research into heart conditions so that what happened with my mum and brother would not happen again.

I connected with so many people across the world who’d struggled with their own experiences of heart health, and was very lucky to share in the adventure with some of my closest friends. There has been no prouder day than the day I finished that year and (naively) thought “that’s it! I’m done!”.

Those of you who know me well will know I’m single-minded and extremely driven: when I want to achieve something I put my everything into it. Combining that with fixed-date challenges meant running that marathon with a cracked rib, it meant wildswimming even when it wasn’t always safe to do so, it meant stress watching weather forecasts…for every achievement there was a bit of pain too and to keep on achieving I’d condense it down and swallow and continue on. It meant lost relationships and difficulty working and found it’s way into each and every aspect of my life.

But there’s still a sense of unfinished business there. Post-challenge blues. A restlessness that just won’t go away. So it’s happening. I’m going again.

This time is going to a bit different though! I’m not locking myself into a year, I’m leaving behind monthly challenges. I’m going to approach this healthier and more holistically. That means more of a focus on intentions than challenges, keeping chill about it all and just having fun while leading the happiest, healthiest life with my strong-ticking heart. And every penny I raise along the way will help the British Heart Foundation Scotland help others too.

*** Due to the way Just Giving works the £5413 was raised from a variety of pages as listed here:

https://www.justgiving.com/team/quotnotstoppingquotwalkers

https://aberdeen.thekiltwalk.co.uk/fundraising/AberdeenKiltwalk2022-LunasLongestWalk

As well as scrapping my car for a further £456.45 ***

So please give generously to the wonderful British Heart Foundation, who have done so much and will continue to do so for those suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

For the most up-to-date info on my progress please see:

https://www.instagram.com/jaredandlunagoforawalk/