Running for Rebecca wih The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust

12 Runs in 12 Counties in 12 months

EVENT #1 – 4th August 2023 - The Brighton and Hove Rainbow Run

Emily, Rebecca's Sister will be running 12 events in 12 southern counties over 12 months dressed as huge Unicorn, to raise money for Rebecca who suffered a catastrophic type A aortic dissection in December and subsequently lost her toes in May this year – this came 9 years after Theresa, their mother also survived a type A dissection.

So far, the Running for Rebecca fundraiser has raised £3,768 but the plight to raise awareness of the charity begins in earnest this week.

This inaugural event of 12 planned runs will mark the start of raising much-needed awareness of this condition and the charity championing the research for it.

What went wrong

The aorta is the major artery in the body. It carries blood from the heart that goes to all organs. Aortic dissection occurs when there is a partial tear in the aortic wall. This tear then spreads along the length of the aorta. Untreated type A dissection is almost always fatal, but miraculously both Rebecca and Theresa survived. Rebecca underwent emergency surgery with a graft in the ascending aorta and a bypass. She was on life support for nearly 3 weeks but just one week into this she lost all blood supply to her legs and underwent another lifesaving surgery, a bifemoral bypass, to restore the supply. Unfortunately, it came too late for her feet and she suffered necrosis of the toes and had a full metatarsal amputation in May. She, along with her mum Theresa, had been marathon runners and lived very healthy busy lives. Rebecca needs to learn to walk again, and run if her heart can tolerate it, but this requires funding and the target is £20,000.

Aortic Dissection affects 70 people a week, 4000 per year in the UK and 50% die.

These people do not die because the NHS lacks the facilities to treat them. Cardiac surgical units across the country have the capacity to carry out the extra operations required. The problem is that people are not diagnosed quickly enough, if at all.

The message is clear: to improve the mortality rates and improve survivor outcomes the charity needs support to fund the research required to do this. We need to get the message out there in the public arena so that the condition is better recognised, diagnosed and treated, or face the potential consequences of more unnecessary deaths.

Since the launch in 2021 as a registered charity, the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust has been actively working to increase access to education for both healthcare professionals and patients throughout the UK and Ireland. By arming those on the front lines with the knowledge they need to promptly identify and effectively treat aortic dissections, they're taking significant strides towards improving patient outcomes.

Emily will start her awareness raising in earnest on the evening of 4th August at The Brighton Rainbow Run and welcomes support in the form of waving, cheering, conversation and donations to Running for Rebecca

Donations to support research are also very welcome to The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust