Wife’s rare heart News condition prompts Mark to run city’s half marathon
A LOVING husband is set to take on the Derby Half Marathon this weekend to raise cash for a charity that helped his wife deal with a rare heart condition.
Mark Bostock’s wife Julie was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in 2019, an inherited genetic heart condition that is particularly difficult to spot.
Mum-of-two Julie, 52, now takes medication to manage the condition and has been helped by the charity Cardiomyopathy UK.
Mark, 54, will take on the Asda Foundation Derby Half Marathon to raise a target of £1,000 for the charity through Just Giving, with the event taking place on tomorrow through the city centre.
Mark, who is originally from Ilkeston, said: “In June 2019, my wife Julie was at work, she ran up some stairs and suddenly felt unwell, with shortness of breath.
“After ECGs and blood tests she was sent home. The doctor suspected she was suffering from a condition called bigeminy which is basically an irregular heart rhythm, he said it was nothing to worry about, lots of people have this and advised us to go and see our GP.
“The following weekend we were in Northumberland sea kayaking with friends and she struggled, having no energy. She made an appointment to see our GP and after the consultation he made an urgent referral to see a heart specialist.
“At the consultation he seemed worried and arranged for Julie to be admitted to hospital right away, he wouldn’t even let us go home to get a bag.”
The couple have lived in Birmingham for several years with their two sons and led a fit and active lifestyle prior to the diagnosis, with Julie, who works for the NHS, trained as a lifeguard and swimming instructor.
ARVC is a condition that affects the proteins which hold the cells of the heart together, causing the cells to come apart when the heart is put under stress.
This then forms fatty scar tissue which stops the heart from beating properly. It can cause an irregular heartbeat and sudden death, although the latter is rare.
The condition is passed down through generations, with Julie’s
mum Sheila dying aged just 56 from dilated cardiomyopathy, a similar condition, in 2004.
Cardiomyotherapy UK says that the condition can be very hard to spot, and although around one in 10,000 people is believed to have it, the true figure might be much higher. Symptoms can include palpitations, light-headedness, fainting and breathlessness, as well as swollen ankles, tummy and legs.
The charity is connected to a network of support groups across the country, which Mark says have been of great benefit in helping the couple to understand the condition.
He said: “The charity put us in touch with this support group in late 2019. This support group is for people with the same condition, but it’s quite a rare condition.
“We’ve only had one face-to-face meeting back in March 2020, before everything was locked down. But it was so useful to go there, speak to people who had the condition and compare notes, and get a handle on their experiences and how they coped with the condition.
“I want to try and raise a bit of money. I’m a fair way there, but hopefully I can boost it.”
It is also the same condition that caused the former footballer, Fabrice Muamba, to collapse on the pitch in 2012, aged just 23.
Muamba was resuscitated after his heart stopped for 78 minutes while medical staff attended to him on the pitch. He later retired from the sport.
In Julie’s case it is managed with medication and by wearing a heart monitor on her wrist, but she may in future need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) fitted, which can shock the heart internally if she has a cardiac arrest.
Mark has run the Asda Foundation Derby Half Marathon on several occasions and says his target this year is to beat a time of one hour and 40 minutes.
Himself a type-1 diabetic, he regularly runs half marathons as a way of keeping fit.
Formerly known as the Ramathon, the event starts at Iron Gate at 9.15am tomorrow and will welcome thousands of runners to the city.
There is also a five-mile race, which begins at 9.30am.
Ahead of the run, Mark has encouraged everyone to get checked if they have any heath concerns.
He said: “We all know there are issues at the moment seeing GPs face-to-face, but if you do have genuine concerns you are going to have to insist to see somebody.
“Any concerns, you have got to get it checked out.”
You can donate to Mark’s collection on his Just Giving page.