Story
Two years ago I became one of the lucky 8%- I survived an out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest. My heart stopped. I died. Cardiac arrests do not discriminate. Anyone can have one; barely anyone survives them.
The only reason my children still have their mum is because an amazing lady gave me CPR. I had no known prior health conditions. My family got a call out of the blue that our local Air Ambulance were trying to save me.
In hospital, I was diagnosed with long term heart conditions. I had an EV-ICD fitted (my very own defib, I've called Chip!). Chip has saved me 4 times, after subsequent sudden cardiac arrests.
Because of the frequency of my cardiac arrests, I felt my life was on hold. There was no point planning or looking forward to things. I felt it was inevitable that I'd be back in hospital again or worse...
June '26 marks 12 months since my last sudden cardiac arrest. I intend to mark this milestone by doing something a little bit crazy - cycling 54 miles from London to Brighton in aid of the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
My beautiful family and friends have supported me to reach this milestone, but science has provided the opportunity. BHF funds research, pioneered technology, hosts a helpline, CPR training campaigns and hosts a national defibrillator network. All of these, have helped me and they might just help you or your loved ones.
I've never completed a challenge like this before. I feel daunted yet excited. If my story and these donations help one more family, then my aches and pains will be unequivocally worth it. BHF work keeps us alive to live and love.
Please donate whatever you can to help someone else be one of the lucky 8% and make sure you know how to save a life: https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/how-to-do-cpr/learn-cpr-in-15-minutes