A Ryde man who has survived three heart attacks is taking on a 120-mile walk to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
61 year old Jim Elston, is planning to walk along the historic Grand Union Canal from London to Birmingham on a route that will see him retrace his family history.
Jim had his first heart attack in 2010 while he was working for the Isle of Wight Council.
Jim said:
“I had this very mild discomfort in my chest that felt a bit like indigestion. And I had this feeling of unease that wouldn’t leave. It would have been very easy to ignore, but I just had this sense that something was wrong. I thought I better get myself checked so I took myself to St Mary’s Hospital.
“There was a bit of a queue in A&E and I nearly missed getting called through because I was thinking of having a cigarette. But when the doctor examined me, they pretty quickly told me that it was a heart attack. I was taken to intensive care before being transferred to the mainland to have stents put in. I just felt absolute disbelief at what was happening.”
Following this health scare, Jim had another heart attack in 2012 while performing on-stage in a covers band, and a third in 2016 while he was out cycling. In 2017, Jim had a coronary artery bypass graft to improve the blood supply to his heart.
Jim said
“My third heart attack showed me how damaged my heart had become. When I had my surgery, I felt frightened for the first time in my life. During my recovery I was emotionally very low. But as I began to heal, I started to appreciate that the surgery had given me a second chance at life, and I’m determined to make the most of it.”
Since then, Jim has studied photography completing a BTEC diploma as an adult learner and is currently about to complete a degree in the subject at Solent University. The experience also prompted Jim to explore his family history where he discovered a brother he never knew existed.
Through census records, Jim was able to learn that his father, Gordon, had been living and working in Birmingham when he got married and had a son, Mike, in 1946. When the marriage ended, Gordon moved to London where he later started a new family.
Jim and his wife Ruby
Jim said:
"The whole thing was stunning. I joined Ancestry UK to research my mother's side of the family. My father's family had always seemed straightforward.
"My father had never mentioned this previous relationship. I don’t know why it had always been kept secret. My parents have been dead for many years now, so I was not able to ask. But I soon became excited at the possibility of making contact with Mike.”
"I wrote to him, explaining who I was. At first, he was concerned it might be a scam. But through the information I was able to provide I convinced him I was genuine.
"After these cautious emails, we spoke for the first time in May last year. It was the day of my 60th birthday. It was a highly emotional call. Mike had no memory of our father, as the relationship ended when he was so young. I’ve shared photographs with him, so he knows what dad looked like and we now speak every couple of weeks on the phone."
Jim and Mike also got the opportunity meet in person last year. The emotional reunion was one of the inspirations for Jim’s fundraising walk.
Jim added:
"I was born in London in a hospital that overlooked the Grand Union Canal, and I played along it when I was a child. During all that time I was unaware that at the other end of the canal, in Birmingham, I had a brother.
"So, I decided with my wife Ruby, that it would be quite something to walk from where I was born to my brother's birthplace, along the 300-year old link between the two cities. I will combine this walk with photography, and I hope to create a book from this.
"I estimate that it will take about 10 days to complete the walk. I have created an Instagram account where I will be post blogs and pictures and I hope I can raise some money for the BHF.
"I feel very lucky and fortunate that I have been able to benefit from so many scientific and surgical advances. Without the research that the BHF funds, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the life I do now.
In the UK, there are more than 100,000 hospital admissions each year are due to heart attacks. In the 1960s more than 7 out of 10 heart attacks were fatal. Today, following advances in treatment and care, at least 7 out of 10 people survive.
Will Ham, Fundraising Manager for the BHF, concluded:
“We’re incredibly grateful to Jim for taking on this very personal event in aid of the BHF.
"Our life-saving research is fuelled by the generous donations of the public, but the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means that our investment in new research could fall by £50 million this year.
"That’s why we need the support of the public to back the BHF now, more than ever."
To donate to Jim’s fundraising people can visit justgiving.com/Jim-Elston
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