A woman from Kentish Town born with a hole in her heart is to run 10km to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
Louise McCormick, who lives on Highgate Road, is pounding the streets in training for her second attempt at the Queen Elizabeth Park Run for the heart charity on March 26,
The 33-year-old, who underwent major surgery as a child, said: “I was born with an Atrial Septal Defect, which is a hole in my heart that was operated on and fixed when I was seven.
“Since then I’ve had Pulmonary Regurgitation which is a leaky valve in the heart and I have to get this checked by specialists every two years.”
Louise, who works in the music industry, had signed up for the same race last year but two weeks before the event she broke her toe in training.
She said: “Training was going really well and I was on track to complete the run at a decent time until I broke my toe during training, I had to withdraw my place and hop around on crutches for a couple of weeks.”
Louise started running a few years ago. “Overall I am in good health and I am able to live a normal life but knowing how important exercise is for the heart, I started running.”
Once this challenge is complete she will the begin training for a full marathon in October.
“I hope to run a full marathon with my sister in October which currently feels terrifying to think about.”
Louise said of the British Heart Foundation: “It is a very important charity, and am hoping to raise a decent amount of money so they can continue their vital research and help people live better and healthier lives.”
Leanne Postlethwaite, fundraising event manager at BHF, said: “We are thankful to fundraisers like Louise who share their reasons for taking part in the event. We hope that Louise’s story will inspire more people to sign up the 5 or 10k to help us beat our fundraising target of £80,000 and join the fight against heart disease.”
To support Louise and her cause click on her fundraising page
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