I'm raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I'd be so grateful for your support.

There is a link between Covid-19 vaccines and an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis. Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis is the inflammation of the lining around the heart. Myocarditis may also make it more difficult for your heart to pump blood around your body properly.

This risk is very low - the British Heart Foundation found that the link is up to 1 in 10,000 people for Pfizer’s vaccine. In July 2021, I was that unlucky case and found myself in critical care, just two weeks after my first Covid-19 vaccine, and exactly one month before my wedding day.

My heart was failing, and the arrythmias was frightening. What having both myocarditis and pericarditis meant for me was a period of time in critical care, in-patient hospital care, almost two years of multiple heart medications a day, ongoing appointments with a cardiology team, a total ban on exercise, and an exemption from all future flu and Covid-19 vaccines.

Most people who get acute myocarditis make a good recovery and do not have long-term problems. But in serious cases it can lead to scarring of the heart tissue, which can be seen on a MRI scan. I will live with scarring on my heart for the rest of my life, but finally luck was on my side - for some, this scarring may cause a life-threatening heart rhythm disturbance.

I received my all-clear in early 2023. This was the moment I could finally begin to exercise, ever so slowly, and re-gain some control of my physical activity (having previously been an avid gym goer). At first, I could only run 2 minutes without stopping. What I didn't expect was to keep running beyond a 5KM - and now I'm looking at doing my first half marathon at Battersea Park, with the hopes of raising money for British Heart Foundation.

The British Heart Foundation 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. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the British Heart Foundation has been committed to supporting research into the direct and indirect impacts of Covid-19 on cardiovascular health.

Thank you for reading my page and considering a donation.