Heart to Heart:

I first heard that my Grandpa Fred had passed away whilst sitting on a train back in December 2019. I was on the way back from an interview in London and on my way to Worcester to go to my great uncle's funeral. Crying on a train alone in the UK is a strange experience, you feel like the whole world can hear you but no one can really see you.

The loss of my Grandpa Fred epitomised the loss of my childhood. The world needs someone like my grandad in it. He was a man with a strong heart. He loved the right things. He would sit in his car with me next to him, listening to classical music, with a tear in his eye. He would spend hours sculpting a cottage from clay; painting Disney characters for me to look at before bed; and colouring in with me, advising to 'keep within the lines'. He'd whistle to the local fox and the fox would come out and take leftovers from him; he'd watch the birds, the field mouse, and the squirrel with fascination from his kitchen window; and tend to his garden with joy. He'd take us swimming and teach us to dive off the top board, hold our breath, go down the fastest slides, play games and then buy us hot chocolate, pot noodle, cookies, and Nik Naks as a treat after. He'd encourage us to play footie with other kids in the park and dare us to tree climb. Gramps would make me a tea while I was working on my dissertation and come in regularly to make sure I wasn't letting it go cold - always offering more biscuits. 

My grandpa was everything you could hope a grandpa to be. He'd sing old songs to me with my grandma in harmony. He'd pick me up from school and give me a Freddo chocolate bar, just because his name was Fred. He taught me to ride a bike and repaired any bike he could get his hands on. He'd play golf, darts, and basketball with my brothers and I; put on huge bonfires which we'd roast marshmallows on; get the water sprinkler out in the summer for us the prance about in; and watch nature documentaries with us in the evenings.

One of my fondest memories is of when I was 7 and my parents woke us up in the middle of the night and said we'd find out why, that it was a surprise. We got driven into town where I spotted my grandad walking down the street. I was so excited to see him that I ran right up to him and gave him a big hug. I had thought that the surprise was seeing him but of course, the actual surprise was that we were going to Disneyland Paris. The surprise, in my eyes, is still that we got to see grandpa in the middle of the night (although Paris was great!).

Grandpa, as I'm sure you can guess, was always the fittest man around; never drank a drop; and gave up smoking completely in his 70s. He was in the army and selected one of the top swimmers, loved working in court; and adored performing on stage with my grandma (nanny Bet). 

Three years ago, it became apparent that his heart had become weak, understandably due to 88 years of usage, and that he would die within the year if he didn't have a triple heart bypass. It's usually not advised that someone so elderly have a triple heart bypass, as successful recovery is unlikely. However, my grandad went ahead with it, knowing the risks. 

After the operation, his whole perspective had refreshed. He was so grateful and stunned to be alive that his cheeks glowed a rosy red; his eyes shined a bright blue; and he smiled and opened up more than I'd ever seen. In conversation, he'd ask more questions, his thoughts were clearer; and he'd remember the finer details, his memory had improved.

When I first saw him after the operation, he showed me his scars and told me that he'd been saved. He said he'd realised that some of the things he'd grown bitter about in life didn't seem to matter anymore. Gramps had never suggested that he'd had a faith, but having the triple heart bypass gave him faith in something. Gramps taught me so much just by being him. After his triple heart bypass he continued to go swimming and walking and gardening. Always whistling, humming, or exclaiming 'Woo-Hoo!' at the little wins. The little wins entailed going to the park; eating biscuits; and watching The Simpsons (where his phrase was coined).

Grandpa Fred's triple heart bypass gave him 3 more years of life. Three more years over the course of which he gave his family joy, thereby granting the world 3 more years of a perspective it could really do with.

In the end, Gramps passed away from liver cancer, but in bed at home, and in my grandma's arms. 

Gramps taught me to relish the outdoors and to throw myself into sporting activities for the love of it, not the prestige. At the age of 7, I remember there was a huge climbing wall that I wanted to climb, but you had to be 8. I was turning 8 that week. On the morning of my 8th birthday, he and my nanny Bet took me right up to that wall and encouraged me all the way.

They say you 'hit the wall' when you run a marathon. I ran the 2019 London marathon for my grandad Alan for Dementia Revolution but I don't remember a wall, I think the people cheering me on in the streets shielded me from that. But this will be a virtual marathon, there'll be no one cheering me on along the way this time. So if I do reach that wall, I'll remember my grandad cheering me on at my first wall at the age of 8. 

I want to raise for the British Heart Foundation because I want other families to experience the joy of having a family member, friend, or member of a community for another 1, 2, or 10+ years. 

Perhaps, by getting my heart racing, we can increase the rate at which hearts beat circulatory disease. 

If we get my fundraising page well circulated, we can attack heart disease head on. My aim is to, by getting my heart pounding, get some pounds in to discover new cures and treatments. My goal is £1,000 because I know, with the impact of Covid-19, many may not be in a position to give.

I'll be strapping a GoPro to my chest and filming the whole marathon in April for you to view (you might want to see the sped up version after the event - it took almost 4 hours to run the London Marathon). I'll also be tracked by the Strava app, so you'll be able to see how far, how fast, and how lost I've got en route. 

I Heart Gramps. His full name was Fred Amos/F. Amos. One of his grandad jokes was always: "Only 'u' can make me famous."

Thanks for visiting my page. I'm raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I'd be so grateful for your support. The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives. It's only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures. £24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can to help me hit my target. Thanks!