Lee and Nicola Bennett, who live in Ross-on-Wye, are embarking on a 30 mile bike ride challenge on Sunday, May 12th to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Lee and Nicola know how vital charities like the British Heart Foundation are, and know personally how important their work is.
The bike ride is a circular route around the Cotswold’s countryside, starting and finishing in Cheltenham.
Lee lives with CCTGA, which is a rare heart defect; less than 1% of all people with heart defects have CCTGA.
In CCTGA, both ventricles of the heart are reversed. The arteries are reversed too, so the heart corrects the abnormal development, thus the name ‘congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries’.
Lee told the Ross Gazette: “My mid 20s was when I noticed things were changing. I had a leak in my tricuspid valve. There was no plans for surgery, just medication, and I carried on as normal. All was pretty OK until 2011. This is when I had endocarditis, an infection in the lining of the heart.
“I spent six weeks in hospital missing a lot of time with our first child. Thankfully I was released two days before Christmas so we could spend our first Christmas together as a family. I continued my treatment at home and was cleared in January.
“In February, 2012 I had my valve replacement, and will never forget my consultant’s words: “my God you’ve got a strong heart.” The recovery was hard and tough, but I felt the benefits. After a year or so my symptoms started to come back, I was pushing myself so hard especially with work and long hard days travelling. I took time off and found out that I was at stage two heart block and needed a pacemaker, which I had in 2015. Things still didn’t really improve; I was slowing down.”
Lee is very grateful to his wife, Nicola, and says that she and their three children give him the energy to keep fighting and keep going.
Lee’s cardiologist has confirmed that he is in the early stages of heart failure and everything they can do has been done. He is fully medicated and the only option is transplant.
The couple are touched by how the community is getting behind them; Lee will be borrowing an electric bike from Revolutions in Ross-on-Wye, and Nicola is hiring one at a discounted price from Pedalabikeaway in the Forest of Dean. They were also approached by the British Heart Foundation to share their story to inspire others.
Lee said: “I will always still remain positive and keep fighting. We did the 30 mile bike ride last year, and were honoured to be asked by them specifically to do it again this year. It’s amazing that they want to use my story to inspire others with difficult conditions to take part too.”
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