Andrew Hedges, a retained firefighter for Ross-on-Wye for nearly 15 years, is taking on a new challenge for a cause very close to his own heart. He is planning to run the London Marathon in April to raise money for The British Heart Foundation.

This is a charity which means a great deal to his family as his son, Jake, was born with a heart condition and has had to have three open heart surgeries and multiple other procedures since he was born.

After Jake was born, and even before Andrew and his wife, Lorraine, were able to bring him home, he was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. This is where it was discovered that he had a heart condition called Pulmonary Atresia with a right ventricular defect. They also found he had two holes in his heart. This meant that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen pumped around his body and he needed major surgery, at just a week old to help him survive. After nearly a month in Birmingham Children’s Hospital his parents were finally allowed to take him home. 

When he was ten months old Jake had open heart surgery to replace the valve on his heart that wasn’t working properly and have the holes in his heart fixed also. He has had to go through open heart surgery twice since then for valve replacements and loads of other slightly smaller procedures over the years. Jake will need the valve replaced again at some point in the future. 

But for now he is a healthy, happy, sporty boy who has just started Year Eight and Andrew believes this is due to the research and support the family has received from the British Heart Foundation and the amazing people at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. 

The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives

Andrew has set up a just giving page and has a target of £2000. To view his page and to make a donation visit www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Hedges2