As you may know, our young son Rory had major heart surgery eleven years ago and has been fit and healthy since then - leading a normal, sport-filled life. We will be forever grateful for the care Rory received at Evelina Children’s Hospital, London and the Royal Victoria Hospital Clark Clinic, Belfast.

Our family and friends will run the Belfast City Marathon on Sunday 3rd May 2026 – in support of the charity that Rory’s surgeon, Conal Austin from Coleraine volunteers his wonderful skills to and I would be so grateful if you could spare a few pounds to help us along!

The charity is called Take Heart Mercy Mission.

Take Heart Mercy Mission is a charity with two main goals:

1. Performing intricate and complicated operations on children who would otherwise die from various heart conditions.

2. By funding teaching visits for a dedicated group of surgeons, doctors, and nurses from the Evelina London Children’s Hospital to train medical teams in Sri Lanka. The doctors and surgeons there can then carry out similar operations throughout the year and therefore save many more lives in the future.