“I will never forget the support that the CHSF gave my family, and I am determined to give something back whenever I can.”
Dedicated supporter JON is tackling four challenging fundraising events this year for CHSF: the Sherwood Forest New Year 10k, Sheffield Half Marathon, Yorkshire Three Peaks, and Midlands Tough Mudder!
In memory of his first child, diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome in 2011, Jon is running, walking, and getting muddy. His son Jacob was born with a heart murmur two years later, and is now 10 years old, thanks to care from Leeds Congenital Heart Unit.
Jon told us a bit more about the reasons why he wanted to fundraise for CHSF this year…
“In 2011 my now ex-partner was pregnant with our first child, and our 20 week scan raised some concerns about the baby’s heart growth/development. We were referred to the heart unit in Leeds for a further scan.
“Unfortunately, it was discovered that the baby was suffering from hypoplastic left heart syndrome and would have been very poorly if we went full term. We made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy, but due to the late stage my ex-partner had to deliver the baby still born. It was a horrible time for everyone but the staff at Leeds, on behalf of the CHSF were absolutely amazing and offered us brilliant support to help us through.
“Due to this history, when my son Jacob was born in 2013 the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit offered us extra scans throughout the pregnancy, to give some reassurance and again the staff and support was fantastic. Jacob was also found to have a small heart murmur when he was younger and the investigations around this were quite distressing as they brought back some troubling memories. But again, staff at Children’s Heart Surgery Fund really looked after us all. Jacob is now 10yrs old and is healthy with the heart murmur causing him no issues at all, which is a massive weight off.
“Obviously, this event was a major one in my life. It has had a great effect on me, from which I have tried to turn negative effects to positive ones over the past decade.
“I will never forget the support that the CHSF gave my family, and I am determined to give something back whenever I can throughout the rest of my life. Children’s Heart surgery Fund will always be my number one choice to raise money for when I get the opportunity to. So when I decided to test myself with all these events I have booked, it was a no-brainer for me to try and help a good cause at the same time.”
“Due to this history, when my son Jacob was born in 2013 the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit offered us extra scans throughout the pregnancy, to give some reassurance and again the staff and support was fantastic. Jacob was also found to have a small heart murmur when he was younger and the investigations around this were quite distressing as they brought back some troubling memories. But again, staff at CHSF really looked after us all. Jacob is now 10yrs old and is healthy with the heart murmur causing him no issues at all, which is a massive weight off.
“Obviously, this event was a major one in my life. It has had a great effect on me, from which I have tried to turn negative effects to positive ones over the past decade.
“I will never forget the support that the CHSF gave my family, and I am determined to give something back whenever I can throughout the rest of my life. Children’s Heart surgery Fund will always be my number one choice to raise money for when I get the opportunity to. So when I decided to test myself with all these events I have booked, it was a no-brainer for me to try and help a good cause at the same time.”
Jon was due to kick off his fundraising in December with the Percy Pud 10K in Sheffield, but it was called off due to snow. Jon still received his celebratory ‘christmas pudding’ but he isn’t keen on the festive dessert so donated it to a local elderly charity!
With over £1,100 already in the pot, Jon is set to have a fab fundraising year for CHSF and we are so grateful. Thank you, Jon!
Inspired? Choose your 2024 challenge!
Do something great this year and choose your challenge to raise funds for our world-class heart unit, it’s amazing patients and their families.
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