In June 2020, we tragically lost my beloved father very suddenly. He was on a lunch-time run and suffered an aortic dissection. He was rushed to hospital, underwent emergency surgery and then remained in Intensive Care for a week, making good progress at first but then going into a fatal decline. Due to strict Covid restrictions, we never got to say goodbye. At 52, he was one of the 2000 people per year who lose their lives due to aortic dissection in the UK.

Papa was the life and soul of the party, and had more personality in his pinky finger than most people have in their whole body. He left an irreplaceable void for the many family & friends who adored him.

Papa was always incredibly active and he's played a huge role in inspiring me to take running and cycling more seriously over the last 5.5 years. A couple marathons and an ultra later, I've decided to embark on my greatest challenge yet - to cycle from France to Japan, along the Ancient Silk Road.

As a part of this journey, I've decided to raise money and awareness to the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust, a charity who do incredible work uniting patients, families and the medical community in a shared goal of improving diagnosis, increasing survival and reducing disability due to aortic dissection. Early detection, genetic testing and medical staff awareness / Emergency Department knowledge can be the difference between life and death.

In very loving memory of my Papa.