A man from Maryport who raised funds for the Trust’s charity visited the coronary care unit at West Cumberland Hospital last week - a year after his father’s life saving treatment.
Jason Todd raised over £1800 for the unit by running the Loch Ness marathon after his father received exceptional care following a heart attack.
He said, “At the end of last year my dad had an unexpected heart attack, which left everyone he knew extremely shocked and worried. He received exceptional care from West Cumberland Hospital and came home safe and sound after a week or so, which was an enormous relief. My goal of entering this marathon was to give back to the ward who looked after my dad, the standard of care was remarkable.”
Jason visited the coronary care unit with his dad a day before the year anniversary of his heart attack to thank staff and present the cheque. Jason’s dad Matt has since made a full recovery with his condition being controlled by medication and is now back to fell walking. He said, “It felt quite strange to be back, obviously a lot more positive this time. Some of the staff recognised my dad from when he was in and we chatted about how they were going to use the money.”
Jason completed the Loch Ness marathon in just over four hours last month. He said, “My dad has visited Scotland for years and absolutely loves it up there, he also has family and close friends from Scotland, so we decided this location was quite fitting.
“I’d never ran a marathon before and it was a very surreal experience – we were taken up a mountain and then ran back into Inverness – there were no spectators for 20 miles.”
Estelle Hodges, ward manager for the coronary care unit said, “It was lovely to meet Jason and his family under much better circumstances and we are very grateful for the funds he has raised for the unit.”
The funds will be used to purchase additional equipment for the unit. Funds raised through our charity can be used to buy additional equipment over and above what is funded routinely through the NHS and can contribute towards reducing waiting times or improving the experience of our patients and their loved ones.
To find out more about raising funds for our charity, visit our website or like our north cumbria nhs hospitals charity page on facebook.
