Andy Smyth, from Carrickfergus, has been busy raising vital funds for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) recently. Andy decided he wanted to do something to support the charity after discovering he had heart failure last year.
Andy explains; “When I received my heart failure diagnosis, I was told my heart was working at 33%. It came as a complete shock. I had so many questions- how do I tell my kids this? What happens next? It was a lot to process but after a while I began thinking more positively because with the right treatment, my heart failure can be managed. I started thinking about how I could do something to help others in a similar situation to me. I also wanted to make people aware of how easy it is to find yourself in a situation where you find out you aren’t well, but also to show you can still do things and help make a difference.”
Talking about his fundraising Andy says; “I am the Kit Manager for the Northern Ireland senior women, under-17s, 19s and 21s men football teams and I'm a big football fan myself so I had the idea of organising a fundraising night with a focus on signed football shirts. I got in touch with all the footballers I know and got shirts signed. The Glasgow Rangers Supporters Club gave me a room for free and organised the music for the night. It was a brilliant night and about 120 people came along in support.”
“I also held a ballot night and lots of local businesses donated items for this which was amazing. We had a gallon tub of ice cream, vouchers from restaurants and coffee shops, a 30-inch pizza, cinema tickets, and lots more.”
“I did a weekend fundraiser in Sainsbury’s Carrickfergus which raised money but importantly, it gave me the opportunity to talk to people and so many of them mentioned health worries. I explained about my heart failure symptoms- feeling tired all the time, breathlessness, and swollen ankles. I put off getting these checked out as I thought it was just down to me getting a bit older, but I have always been pretty fit, and I was struggling to even get up the stairs. I encouraged people to get any health concerns they have checked out, not to ignore them. It’s important to me to raise awareness as well as money for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke. They do so much great work trying to make people aware of their health, risk factors and symptoms, and to encourage people to seek medical advice if there is something they aren’t happy about. They also provide extensive care services to people who are living with heart, and other, conditions so the support they provide is so important.”
“I would like to thank all my family, friends and the local people and businesses who supported the fundraising. I couldn’t have done it without them, and they were so generous with their donations. The events might have been my idea but so many people helped and I’m very grateful. To be able to donate £7,000 to the charity is just fantastic.”
Andy is now thinking about future fundraising; “I did a 16.5 miles sponsored walk from Holywood to Carrickfergus for NICHS a while ago and now I'm planning another which will be the length of a marathon. I’m hoping to do that in October. From where I was, struggling to get up the stairs, to walking 26 miles will be a big one for me but I'm all for it.”
Valerie Saunders, Community Fundraiser for Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke, expressed her thanks on behalf of the charity commenting; “We are very thankful to Andy for supporting our charity and to raise so much money is a wonderful achievement.”
“Today, there could be as many as 470,000 people living with a chest, heart or stroke condition in Northern Ireland - that's one in three of the population. Almost 90% of NICHS’s care and prevention services and research projects are funded by donations from the public so fundraising efforts like Andy’s are vital for our charity and what we can achieve. The funds raised will enable us to continue to help the local community and provide life-changing services for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families.”
If you have been inspired by Andy’s story you can find out more about the many different ways to support NICHS at www.nichs.org.uk/how-you-can-help
