Hi. About 12 years ago I was sitting at home a couple of days after returning from an amazing holiday in Thailand, when I started to develop chest pains. Thinking I was having a heart attack I was rushed to hospital, where after various tests and scans I was diagnosed with a Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism (blood clots on the lungs), thought to have been triggered by a DVT from the long flight home. It was a life threatening and genuinely frightening thing to happen, which I was fortunate to fully recover from. Unfortunately in November 2022 I got diagnosed with another DVT, this time unprovoked, which I am still taking anticoagulants for.

I'm hugely grateful to all the people who have helped me out with these conditions, and would like to say thanks and give something back!

During the month of May Thrombosis UK are encouraging everyone to get up and move in whatever capacity they can and do a 10K any way. For the more mobile this could be 10,000 steps each day or for others it could be 10,000 steps or 10K over a month. Support me to do my 10K by doing something a bit different, which is to climb a total of 10,000m of elevation on my static smart bike (measured on the e-sports cycling platform Zwift, https://uk.zwift.com/), through May. This is the equivalent to cycling up Everest, and Snowdon + a bit more!

All funds raised will go straight to Thrombosis UK (https://thrombosisuk.org) and help them to continue raising awareness of Thrombosis across the UK.

Some info about Thrombosis....

Thrombosis has been - and remains - a major cause of death in the United Kingdom yet astonishingly, this fact is not widely known.

Most people have little or no understanding about the causes and effects of thrombosis, and how it can be prevented. Every year, an estimated 25,000 people in England die from venous thrombosis (also called venous thrombo-embolism or VTE) contracted in hospital.

Most people affected by thrombosis are older, but anyone can suffer from thrombosis, occasionally even children and babies.

Some facts....

• Up to one in every 1,000 are affected by venous thrombosis in the UK each year;

• Up to one in ten people who suffer a pulmonary embolism will die if not treated;

• Around one in every 1,000 women develops thrombosis during pregnancy, which can lead to related long-term health problems;

• One in three surgical patients can develop a DVT if no preventative measures are given;

• VTE is the most common cause of hospital deaths in the UK that can be prevented.

Thrombosis can happen to you, your family, your friends or colleagues. Thrombosis is often a 'silent' medical condition with no obvious signs or symptoms.

It doesn't discriminate and can affect people of any age or sex. It can very easily be confused with less serious conditions - a clot in the leg can be mistaken for a sore leg muscle.

But thrombosis is a leading cause of death in the United Kingdom, yet most people have little or no understanding about its causes and effects and how it can be prevented.