To everyone that has supported Alex and us as a family over the last year, we want to take the time to say a huge thank you. At the time of Al’s surgery things happened very quickly and there wasn’t much time to process things. What we do all acknowledge now is that it was entirely possible we wouldn’t have Al with us now, a thought that doesn’t bear thinking about but something that too many families out there still do have to cope with.

As we approach Al’s 16th birthday and the 1 year mark since his operation, we wanted to plan something as a celebration and a thank you to our family and friends, but also to the incredible NHS staff that supported Al through life-saving surgery.

I am proud beyond words of the determination Al has shown in getting back to the things he loves. He is preparing for rowing races, back wearing his black belt at karate and despite never being fond of running, has decided to start training for something special. Last night we ran our first 10k together, further than Al has ever run before and about 5 times the distance I could run this time last year! 

On Sunday 12th December both Al and I will be running a 4k loop starting from our house as many times as we can. We aren’t going to set a number just yet as just being out running is a huge achievement, but we’re aiming for a marathon…

We’d love more than anything for people to join us, whether that be running a loop, cycling, scooting, or supporting from the pavements. We are hoping for other heart-surgery survivors to join us on the day and to spread the word as widely as possible as we restart our mission to raise awareness of the importance of getting young hearts checked. If you know of anyone you think would like to join in, please encourage them to (but let them know we are very slow)!

It wouldn’t be right to set ourselves this challenge without trying to raise some more money for cardiac risk in the young, so we will reopen our donations page and also contribute 50% of what we raise to the Royal Brompton charity, as a thank you for their incredible work.

We are planning lots of training runs over the next month and would love to have company on them, particularly when I’m back in Exeter and Al is training on his own! 

The support from you all at the big run I did last year really did carry me through the course and despite feeling like I never wanted to run again, I have tried to keep it up and am beginning to (slightly) enjoy it! I’d love for Al to experience that same feeling but more importantly we’d both love for as many young cardiac deaths to be avoided as possible. 

Please share our posts and spread the word!

Lots of love and thanks,

Mads and Al ❤️