I will be running the London marathon in memory of my amazing Dad on the 23rd April 2023. On the 18th October 2019 our lives changed forever after my dad collapsed at home. He was discovered to have an acute aortic dissection and despite initial surgery to save his life, the extent of the dissection was too severe and he died in hospital just 5 days later. Before this happened he was fit and well having only just retired, and his passing has left us all deeply shocked and saddened. My Dad was a wonderful man, always kind and ready to help others. As many of you will know the only running I generally do is for a train and this will be the hardest challenge I have ever set myself to achieve. I want to use this tragedy to try to do something positive, raising awareness of aortic dissection and hopefully prevent other families from having to go through what we are now. 

Aortic dissection is a very rare but life threatening condition where the inside lining of the main artery (the aorta) that carries blood away from the heart tears. About 20% of people with aortic dissection die before reaching the hospital and without treatment, 80% due within 2 weeks. In most UK centres, it is difficult to train in aortic surgery for acute aortic dissection, due to both case complexity and low volume. Most senior cardiac surgical trainees will never perform such surgery and most recently appointed consultants will have had only limited exposure to such cases. 

I would like to raise money for Heart Research UK in my Dad's memory to help fund an aortic dissection masterclass. These masterclasses  provide a unique opportunity for cardiac surgeons to gain hands-on experience of aortic dissection scenarios including total aortic arch replacement, supervised by an expert faculty of both national and international repute.

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