It is no secret to some that I have struggled through a tough time with my mental health so I’m going to share a bit of my story in the hope that some of you lovely people will make a donation (no matter how small) to help support the work of the British Heart Foundation. 

I am doing this for 3 reasons: 

1. In memory of Nigel Parker - aka Bompy ❤️

2.  As a thanks from me to the BHF for the research they do that has helped my sister Immy have successful open heart surgery! 

3. As part of my own recovery after recently being diagnosed with PTSD 

Challenge 1: Snowdon Triple 

August 2019 - Completed ✅ 

The Snowdon Triple Challenge is a 10.5 mile cycle along the shore of Llyn Padam (Llanberis Lake) followed by a 9 mile trek to the summit of Snowdon and back, finally followed by a 2.5 mile kayak across Llyn Padam Lake - all in a day! 

I feel it’s a very fitting challenge in memory of Bompy who was mad for Wales, Cycling, Walking and Kayaking amongst many other things! 

Challenge 2: Bournemouth Pier to Pier Swim 

July 2021 - Pending 

1.4 miles swim between Bournemouth and Boscombe Piers. Hopefully this can go ahead (maybe Covid would have eased off by then?! Who knows?!)  

My Story:

In October 2018, my amazing Grandfather had a heart attack whilst sat next to me on the sofa. I had been teaching CPR using the British Heart Foundations dummies just the day before to a group of students in a learning for life lesson and strongly remember telling them ‘I hope you never have to use this, but you never know when you might need to’. 

Those words could not be more true. It was a Friday night and I had just finished my workout at the gym, I rang Pay and Bomp to see if they were home and then went over for a cuppa. Everything was good, we were laughing and chatting away and then the unimaginable happened. Within half an hour of getting to their house I was performing CPR on my grandfather. What then followed were the longest moments of my life and utter heartbreak. Despite doing everything I knew and could, Bompy passed away. 

In the months after this happened my life was rocked with mental health issues relating back to that day. I was experiencing symptoms similar to what I imagine a heart attack feels like, chest pains, shortness of breath, pounding heart... I was constantly worried about everyone around me dropping dead and me having to give them CPR, I was living my life constantly on edge and in physical pain. During this time my youngest sister Immy was diagnosed with holes in her heart that required surgery to close after she kept randomly collapsing. This terrified me more than anything... my little sister having open heart surgery when I was obsessive about mine and other people’s hearts not working properly and failing at any moment. I went through months of worrying and feeling terrified that I would have to deal with the same thing that happened to Bompy happening to Immy.  

Thankfully, Immy had successful heart surgery in March 2019 at Southampton Hospital and has now recovered well, looking incredible after everything she’s been through! She has had some minor hiccups since surgery which have required frequent testing and other mini procedures. She is now working as a nursing assistant on the Cardiothoraccic ward at the JR to help people who are going through similar things she did. She’s amazing and I’m so proud of her! 

At the time , due to all of this happening in my life I was trying to ignore how I was thinking and feeling but I have now been diagnosed with PTSD and panic and anxiety disorder. I have undergone therapy and treatment to help me come to terms with what happened and what is currently still happening to me. I spent a period of time slowly getting back into the things I love doing and exercise is still at the top of my list to be able to do without freaking out about having a heart attack! Yes 2 1/2 years on and I still freak out! 

The first challenge was huge for me and I had a few panic attacks on the way but now I’m ready to take on something else in this strange world we find ourselves living in!

So...Bournemouth pier to pier swim. I’m coming for you! 🏊🏻‍♀️ 

Raising money for the British Heart Foundation to help fund lifesaving research and educate people on what they can do to help in situations when someone needs urgent help is super important to me because as you have now read, I have been massively effected by this in the last year. Without charities such as the British Heart Foundation people such as me wouldn’t be knowledgable in how to give CPR, people like Immy wouldn’t have the quality of life they do because surgeries and treatments would be dated and more people would die from heart attacks and heart disease.