Firstly thank you for taking time to click on our page and hear our story!

Myself and my partner Emma will be running the London marathon next April to raise much needed funds for Heart research UK. We would like to offer our different perspectives on our journey.

Tom:

On the 31st October 2023 I was rushed to the Royal Brompton Hospital after being diagnosed with a 8.3cm aortic dissection which required emergency intervention. This involved 12 hour open heart surgery to replace my aortic arch, aortic root and insert a mechanical heart valve all of which necessary to save my life. I spent the next month in hospital with ups and downs and support from those closest to me! My partner Emma was my true inspiration to keep fighting through those tough moments and her unwavering support kept me motivated to get out of hospital and start my rehabilitation.

Emma was with me every step of the way through my rehabilitation and wholeheartedly supported everything I did and always went above and beyond. By March I was comfortably running 5km, we then decided we wanted to give something back and if cleared to the run the London marathon would give us the perfect opportunity to raise awareness, raise some money and use our story as a vehicle to help and support others who are going through what we went through!

Emma:

On the 31st of October 2023 I was close to losing my partner, my best friend and my person. I'll be forever grateful for the amazing support from the NHS during this time. Tom is an inspiration to me, I'm so proud of his strength, determination and for being the best partner you can ask for. When he took his first strides in running and said I'm going to run the marathon, I knew he was going to achieve this goal. I'll be running beside him, if only to keep an eye on him!

Our motivations to run this marathon are to support Heart research UK in raising awareness for people to get themselves screened to pick up undiagnosed heart conditions, I was unaware that I had congenital heart defects which contributed to my aortic dissection.

Secondly Heart research UK run specialist clinics to teach surgeons how to repair aortic dissections and the more money raised the more clinics can be run and lives like mine can be saved.

Please give as much as you can to support this amazing charity who continually raise awareness and go above and beyond.

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