Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In May I will be running the Leeds Half Marathon for Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation, a charity which has helped me personally.

Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation is a charity based in the Isle of Man, which was created in memory of Craig who sadly passed away unexpectedly from an undiagnosed heart defect. The charity provides free heart screening to individuals aged 14-35 across the island in order to detect any symptoms of a defect to the heart. They also provide lifesaving defibrillators across the island.

I attended the free heart screening in 2019 when I was 15 years old and they were able to detect ectopic beats within my heart. I was completely asymptomatic and still to this day would have no idea if it wasn’t for that screening. I was looked after by Alder Hay children’s hospital until I was 18, but it was deemed as minor and so at that moment in time, nothing more serious was needed.

However, in September of last year, I attended a regular check up (an echocardiogram) at Leeds General which resulted in me being admitted to hospital for a week. My left ventricle was functioning at 10-15% (it should be at 50-55%), a high burden of ectopic beats were found, and I was considered to be in heart failure. Whilst in hospital I underwent a procedure, a catheter ablation. Now I’m on daily medication, and under high supervision from the doctors with appointments most weeks. From the medication and procedure, my left ventricle is now working at 35%, which is still deemed as extremely poor but it is a massive improvement and I am able to continue my normal life attending university and playing sport weekly.

Without Craig Heartstrongs free scan, I would be unaware of what was going on with my heart, and so who knows what could’ve happened. I will forever be grateful for the free scan and so it only feels appropriate to give something back. Any donations are greatly appreciated and I would also like to thank everyone who has supported me over the past few months ❤️