I have been living with heart failure for 24 years, have an implanted defibrillator which has saved my life 6 times and I turned 50 this year. To mark this I am walking the West Highland Way (96 miles from Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands) to raise money for two charities that are particularly close to home.
At 26 years old I wasn't expecting to have a massive heart attack, after being given a short time to live I also wasn't expecting to be living here in the Western Isles 24 years later with one of the nurses who looked after me at my worst, with 2 amazing children AND be planning an adventure like this!
I'm not the biggest social butterfly but I do know that lots of people are willing to support wonderful charities like these to help people living with disease and also fund valuable research to prevent others having to experience them.
I will need to start slowly and train over several months to be able to complete the course in 7 days, the longest day will be 19 miles and at several points in my life I couldn't walk the length of myself so that will be a big milestone. Thanks to amazing care, advances in medical research and treatment I can take this challenge on and hopefully raise money for each of these special charities. I will be sharing my training journey on the islands of Lewis & Harris so look out for some stunning scenery!
1st Training video: https://www.instagram.com/heart_failure_hiker/reel/DFAzUnUqeTW/