Mark's Rock Up In Red

This year Mark Harris from Mid Glamorgan in Wales decided to organise not one Rock Up In Red event, but three. And all in different locations!

Mark held events with groups he is invoved with in the community, including his Cardiac rehabilitation group, his Tai Chi group and with his Junior Squash Club at Llantrisant Leisure Centre.

“I received the information about Rock up in Red in December. I immediately liked the idea of this event due to its simplicity” said Mark. “I asked everyone to wear something red and make a donation if they could.”

Mark used several different ideas to get all the different groups excited about Rock Up In Red. For one of Mark’s events he used the sweepstake game supplied in his Rock Up In Red fundraising pack, turning it into the “Guess what Mark rocked up in” game.

“I also used the posters in the promotional packs sent to me, but I modified them a bit by sticking a picture of my head on the person’s body. Not a pretty sight…”

 “We raised just over £129 in the end. Not as much as we had hoped, but we had some fun and spread the word of the good work the BHF does”

 

 

 

Jill’s story

Jill’s granddaughter Maggi has to have repeated surgery for a rare heart condition almost 60 years after Jill had a heart operation of her own. 

Maggi has a condition called pulmonary vein stenosis – a narrowing of the vein that leads from the lungs to the heart. Jill’s operation was for a far more common complaint known as patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), which is a persistent opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart. Small ones often don’t cause problems but large openings can cause weakening of the heart muscle.

Maggi had to undergo her first operation in 2008. It involved inflating a tiny serrated balloon inside the pulmonary vein to cut it and stretch it. Because the vein partially contracts again afterwards, the surgery has to be performed an average of four times.

Jill says, ‘It’s amazing how she’s progressed. She used to be so slow and lethargic and she was constantly ill. The first time she had the procedure she sat up, the next time (6 months later) she crawled, the third time (at 2 years and 3 months) she started walking. And now she’s running around. Surgery has come such a long way!’

Everyone who rocked up in red has helped us continue our pioneering work and patient care, allowing us to help people like Jill and Maggi live with and understand their heart conditions.