Montgomeryshire MS, Russell George, sponsored The British Heart Foundations launch of their ‘Go Red’ initiative at the Senedd this week
February is Heart Month and this year; Russell George is backing a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Cymru initiative to get people across Wales to ‘Go Red’ and help the charity fundraise and find the cures of tomorrow.
Mr George recently sponsored a reception at the Senedd on 12 February, where Welsh Government and BHF Cymru announced a new co-fund agreement for Wales’ National Cardiovascular Research Network.
At the event, attendees heard from Leigh Manely. Prior to collapsing in a gym in 2016, the then 39-year-old loved exercise and ran two to three half-marathons a year. After weeks of testing, Leigh was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
Later that year, a small defibrillator was fitted to Leigh’s heart. If his heart rate rises about 230bpm, the devise delivers 30 volts to shock his heart back into rhythm.
Walking became a struggle for Leigh and the build-up of scar tissue was so severe his ablation laser surgery had been delayed. This treatment took place in July 2017. After two further ablation surgeries in 2020, Leigh’s health improved dramatically.
Currently, there are around 340,000 people in Wales living with heart and circulatory disease, and there will be approximately 2800 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests this year. Around 18 babies a month are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.
There are many ways you can support BHF Cymru this Heart Month, such as learning the skills that might just save the life of a loved one. In 2022, British Heart Foundation launched a new online tool called RevivR, which is free to access and teaches lifesaving CPR skills in just fifteen minutes using just a mobile phone and a cushion.
Commenting after the event, Mr George said:
“I was honoured to sponsor The British Heart Foundations initiative launch in the Senedd. I was also grateful to open the event by talking about the work of BHF Cymru in tackling cardiovascular disease, and its wider research programmes that are so important.
‘’It is great to see the recognition of Universities and Health Boards across Wales through this new agreement, to attend the BHF reception at the Senedd. We all want to get closer to a Wales free from fear of heart and circulatory disease.
“Many of us have felt the pain of heart and circulatory diseases, and I learned recently that heart and circulatory diseases affect around twice as many people in the UK as Alzheimer’s and cancer combined, so it is important to urge people in Montgomeryshire to do anything they can to support.
‘’Whether it’s a dinner, a dance, an office dress-up day, a coffee morning or a red-themed quiz, going red is a great theme to have some fun with. I have already seen some great fundraising work from Wales YFC, getting Young Farmers Clubs across Wales to go red.”