Mark Massey
Sarah's year of fundraising
Fundraising for Cardiomyopathy UK
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I am going to be 40 in April 2014 and have decided that I need to mark this occasion in a fairly grand fashion by completing a series of challenges/events through the year that will raise funds for charity. So why the Cardiomyopathy Association.
I am part of a family that has been torn apart by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and if the work that is being done can in some way stop this happening to another family like mine, then it will have been worth every bit of effort.
My story starts with an irregularity being picked up on my mum's routine ECG done pre-op and following further tests she was diagnosed with HOCM. At this point my brother and I were tested and I was given the all clear whilst my brother was found also to have HOCM. At this point we thought this was a minor ailment which by following some basic advice was no big deal. Naive maybe but a way of dealing with it at the time.
My mum is one of five so her siblings went ahead and made their own decisions about whether they wanted to be tested or not.
A few years later my 34 year old uncle dropped dead at the steering wheel of his car causing a crash that thankfully no one else was injured in. His wife was 12 weeks pregnant at the time so he never saw his son.
Six weeks later my 27 year old cousin dropped dead on a football pitch.
Both these incidents crippled our family and suddenly HOCM was a killer and a very big deal.
My mum died, age 55, in 2005 after suffering a stroke due to HOCM. My son Matthew was only 11 months old at the time so never really knew his Grandma. My other son Ben was 4 so he does remember her but only just!
My brother, Andrew died in 2011 after suffering a stroke due to HOCM. He was only 34. He left behind a young wife, Siobhan and his daughter, Holly who was 5 at the time. Holly has currently been given the all clear but continues to be monitored.
If I can help to raise awareness of the disease in even a small way then hopefully this will be a help to other families.
So my challenges over the next 12 months include a 5K, a 10K, the great north swim all helping me get fit to trek the Great Wall of China next October. I will be paying for all of these events myself so all funds raised will go to the Cardiomyopathy Association. I will also be doing cake bakes, craft sales and also shaving my head!! I hope you can support me through all these challenges.
The diary so far is:
November 2013: Head shave - COMPLETED
December 2013: Santa Dash 5K Liverpool - COMPLETED
Craft Fair - COMPLETED £128 raised
January 2014: Cake/Craft sale -COMPLETED £488 raised
February 14th: Bag pack - completed £822.50 raised AMAZING!
March 29th: Coffee morning at my dad's house - COMPLETED £310 raised
March 30th: Bowood 10K walk with Holly, my brother's daughter, my two boys Ben & Matty, Michael, my Dad Derek, Andrew's widow Siobhan and her partner Gary - £290 sponsorship raised by Holly
April: Birthday Party
May: 11th - Coastal Walk, 18th - Great Manchester 10K run
June: 15th - Great North 2 mile Swim
August: 16th: Big Fun Run 5K - Liverpool
September: Hoylake 10K
October 10th - 19th: China Trek
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