A Cowbridge woman, Rhian Francis, is juggling running the family business with training hard for the TCS London Marathon on Sunday, 2nd October, raising funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
Rhian, 47, is a mother of three and is also the managing director of the Llandow furniture store, The Place for Homes. She has supported the BHF since the sudden death of her father-in-law John Francis, in 2016. John was a much-loved husband, father and grandfather, a retired science teacher who had worked at Radyr Comprehensive and had been an active member of Pendyrus Male Voice, and Cowbridge Male Voice Choirs.
She said: “My father-in-law was 69 and had always been incredibly fit and healthy. I don’t think anyone was really aware of how poorly he was getting, and my mother-in-law Glen had to call the ambulance because she thought he’d had some sort of heart attack. When he got to hospital, they said that wasn’t the case.
“It was very difficult to get to a diagnosis. What we were watching was a man who had been incredibly active and fit and healthy starting to struggle more. The doctors decided they would try and stop and restart his heart. That was scheduled for the Monday, we went in with my children on the Saturday afternoon to see him in the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and that night we had a telephone call to tell us that he’d had a cardiac arrest and passed away.”
It was found that John had suffered from cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle which affects its size, shape or thickness. It can be caused by other heart and circulatory conditions (acquired cardiomyopathy) but is often inherited, when a faulty gene is passed down through families.
An estimated 16,000 people in Wales have an inherited heart condition – these include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) which affects 1 in 500 people.
Rhian says: “Obviously there is a concern as a family that the condition which affected John is genetic and may have been passed on. I’m hoping to raise money for the BHF to support the research into heart conditions to try and prevent other people being in the same position as us and losing someone they love.”
Training for the London Marathon to fundraise for the BHF’s research has taken a huge commitment from Rhian, who manages the family business, The Place for Homes. She says: “You’re running at least five times a week. Juggling that with working full time and running around after three children, it’s a challenge. You need your family on board to do it. Without that money and without that investment, then it can’t change, there needs to be this constant investigation and exploration and the British Heart Foundation are the best organisation to do that.”
Rhian has organised a fundraising raffle of furniture donated by supplies. To enter contact The Place for Homes on 01446 772927.
- To support Rhian please go here.
Rhian will be joined in London by Head of BHF Cymru Rhodri Thomas. As well as running the Marathon on Sunday, 2nd October, he’s also set himself a personal challenge to run 52 half marathons through 2022, in support of the BHF.
🌟 This article first appeared in the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star on 22.09.22 – read it in print first!
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