Joanne to run the Hull 10K for the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation

Joanne is one of our inspirational runners taking on the Hull 10K on Sunday 9th June. Joanne has signed up in support of her husband's cousin, Daniel Wilkinson and to raise funds for the the foundation set up in his memory. 

The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation is a charity setup in memory of Daniel who died on the 12th September 2016, aged 24, playing the game he loved, from an underlying heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC).

ARVC is an inherited condition that causes the replacement of cardiac muscle with fibrous, fatty tissue.  This causes the walls in the heart chamber to become thin and stretched, impacting how the blood is pumped around the body and causing abnormal heart rhythms which can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).

ARVC can be found in one in 1,000 to 5,000 young adults, if it is looked for and SCD is the leading cause of death in young athletes during sport and the majority of deaths occur with NO PRIOR SYMPTOMS or family history.

The charities aim is to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death in the young and to provide funding towards heart screening, defibrillators and CPR/defibrillator training, primarily for grass-roots sporting teams. 

We spoke to Joanne ahead of event day to find out more. 

"Daniel Wilkinson is my husband's cousin, following his death playing semi-professional football for Shaw Lane on 12 September 2016 from the underlying heart condition Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy - ARVC. Daniels's parents decided to set up a charity in 2017 to raise money to provide portable defibrillators for grassroots sports and raise awareness of the condition which is hard to check

"To date, the charity has given over 50 portable AEDs to varying grassroots sports clubs all over the country.  The charity has also branched out with the help of the CRY charity into running heart screenings for the 15-35 age group to detect the signs of ARVC - our next one is in August.

I choose to run the Hull 10k to take me out of my comfort zone and to raise money for the foundation."

To support the foundation, you can do so by clicking here 

Good luck Joanne, we look forward to welcoming you across the finish line! 

Entries are still open for the Hull 10K. To enter and find out more click here