In September, I’ll mark the two-year anniversary of my second open-heart surgery by taking on the 60:60 challenge: running 60 miles in 60 hours to support the British Heart Foundation and raise awareness of heart disease.
The 60:60 focuses on awareness because in January 2022, I had a heart attack – and I didn’t even know it.
I didn’t realise that tightness in the throat was a sign of a cardiac event. Weeks later, an alert doctor recognised what had happened.
Further tests revealed something even more serious: a severe mitral valve defect. It had silently enlarged my heart and was steadily shortening my life. I missed that too.
I’d been active all my life. I’ve been running for nearly 40 years. So when I experienced breathlessness, fatigue, and difficulty on stairs, I assumed it couldn’t be serious. I was wrong.
In May 2022, I underwent open-heart surgery to repair the valve. Initially, I recovered well, but over time my condition deteriorated badly. Eventually, I could no longer run a quarter of a mile.
After extensive testing, doctors discovered another defect in the same valve. In October 2024, I underwent a second open-heart surgery, this time replacing the valve with a prosthetic one.
I missed the warning signs twice.
I was lucky.
But luck is not a strategy.
In the UK, cardiovascular disease causes 1 in 4 deaths. In the US, someone dies of heart disease every 34 seconds.
Please support the 60:60 challenge and help the British Heart Foundation fund life-saving research and raise awareness that saves lives.