The sudden onset of pain radiated from my chest through to the middle of my back, accompanied shortly after by a tearing/ripping sensation down through my chest into my abdomen and into my groin. It was at that moment I realised something seriously wrong was going on and said, “I need to go to the Hospital”. Then the real pain started!!  What ensued next was my wife doing an exceptionally good impression of Michael Schumacher through the streets of west London with my brother as co-pilot to the nearest Hospital. Arriving at the hospital, I was wheeled into A&E and quickly wired for an ECG. A heart attack was the first thing they thought of which is understandable but when the results indicated that I wasn't having a cardiac event the doctors seemed to all take a step back with a sigh of relief and in their minds, the emergency was over. It wasn't!! "You can read the rest of my story here": 
Today is a good day 2003 - 2023.docx

My original Aortic Dissection was on the 23-03-2003 my 20th anniversary as a survivor will be on 23-03-2023 can you see a pattern there :)

My challenge is to walk 223 miles starting on the 23rd of March and to complete the distance by 13-07-2023. The significance of the 13th of July being the end date is that that is the date of my second Aortic Dissection which occurred in 2018 leading to a 14-hour open heart surgery to replace most of my aorta with a dacron graft. I spent four months in the hospital due to complications of bilateral strokes during the surgery and now walk with the aid of a cane due to severe balance issues. I want to celebrate the 20 years by challenging myself along with raising awareness and funds for the charity close to my heart.

I've been supporting survivors of Aortic Dissection for over 15 years and in 2016 I founded ADAUKI. We became a voluntary unincorporated patient association in March 2018 and a registered charity in April 2022. Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland, The Voice of Aortic Dissection Patients in the UK & Ireland.

Please support and share my challenge if you can, thank you so much.

                                          "Today is a Good Day"