"I fired the bullets and threw the guns in!"

In 2018 dad underwent surgery in Canterbury to undergo a complicated repair on an iliac aneurysm in his right leg. A month later, due to infection and other complications a second emergency operation took place to further strengthen the repairs. After the operation Mr Seneratne the vascular surgeon spoke with us and said "I fired the bullets and threw the guns in!". He had done everything possible to save dad. 

Late 2019 and dad had returned to hospital having fought against infection for over a year. He had MRSA and sepsis. Infection had affected his pacemaker and the stent wires in his leg. He spent Christmas in hospital in London where he underwent several emergency surgeries. He was discharged on New Year's Eve but in February 2020 dad was admitted to Pilgrims hospice in Margate and sadly passed away on 1st March 2020. 

Over the years dad had suffered from a myriad of health conditions, most of which stemmed from poor vascular health brought about, in part, by poor lifestyle choices. It started in 1989 with a myocardial infarction (heart attack). He suffered long term with claudication and atherosclerosis, mainly in his legs. Stroke and TIA in 2008 and 2013 and type 2 diabetes mellitus further added to his worsening vascular health. 

One morning circa 2011 I stood on my home scales and the needle flew round past the 20 stone mark. I was shocked. I was following my own path of poor lifestyle choices and knew then that I needed to change, otherwise I too would end up heading down the same path as dad.  So I took up cycling, changed my lifestyle habits and over the following years, lost 5 stone, completed the Ride London 100 mile cycling event 3 times, climbed one of the toughest Tour de France mountains in 2016 and completed Brighton Marathon in 2018. 

This time I'm running London Marathon on 2nd October, 4 days short of what would have been dad's 72nd birthday. I'm running for the Circulation Foundation.
https://www.circulationfoundation.org.uk/ 
They are the only UK Vascular charity, dedicated to vascular health.

Vascular Disease is as common as cancer and heart disease and accounts for 40% of deaths in the UK. Vascular disease is the most common precursor to coronary heart disease and heart attack, it also causes stroke by affecting the arteries in your neck.

One of the most common forms of vascular disease is peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which is when the arteries in your legs are affected. It is estimated that 9% of the population suffer from PAD, which causes painful legs when walking, ulceration and amputation.

What are the risk factors of vascular disease?

The exact cause of atherosclerosis is unknown, but several risk factors accelerate the formation of fatty deposits in the arteries:

• being male
• family history of vascular disease, angina, heart attacks or stroke
• high blood pressure
• smoking
• diabetes
• being overweight
• high cholesterol levels
• an unhealthy diet
• lack of exercise
• stress

Even though vascular disease is so widely prevalent in our society, it is vastly underfunded in the field of medical research. The Circulation Foundation is working to change that by embarking on a focused programme of research which funds both established vascular research teams and young medical scientists and surgeons.

They are run entirely by volunteers and rely on donations to fund their vital research and awareness programmes. As a small charity, with few overheads, every penny donated has a positive impact.