Men run for rugby player who survived cardiac arrest

FIVE men are running seven marathons in as many days for a rugby player who nearly died from a cardiac arrest.

They are raising money for charity by running from London to Paris in the name of Morgan MacRae, 22, from Peppard.

Morgan, who used to play for the Henley Hawks and is now with the Rams in Sonning, is accompanying them in a support vehicle and is running some of the way too.

Tom Bishop, Tom Guthrie, Max Tipping, Tom Croisdale and Morgan’s brother Iwan, all 25, are running from Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. They began on Saturday and ran to the south coast where they caught a ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe in northern France from where they are running to the capital and aim to finish today (Friday).

They are averaging the length of a marathon each day of the challenge, which is called Arch2Arc.

Last year Morgan suffered a cardiac arrest and was saved by his girlfriend Kitty Williams who gave him CPR in bed as she waited for paramedics to arrive.

He was taken to hospital where he was put into a coma for two days. He then spent a week in intensive care before being moved to the cardiac ward for two weeks, where he underwent surgery to have a special device fitted.

The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator detects arrythmias and sends an electrical shock to the heart, changing the rhythm back to normal.

It is fitted on the left side of the chest next to the ribcage under the skin and is changed every eight to 10 years.

Morgan also has a monitor at home in Peppard which sends signals back to the hospital weekly. Thanks to the device, he was able to return to rugby training just three weeks after completing his recovery in September.

The five runners, who became best friends while studying at the University of Leeds, are raising money for the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, Brave Mind and St George’s University Hospital in London, which helped Morgan in his treatment and recovery.

Their target is £20,000 and they have raised more than £16,000 so far.

Morgan and Miss Williams, 23, have been campaigning for greater awareness of CPR training.

He said: “I’m one of the few lucky ones that have lived to tell that tale, so I want to make a difference. Kitty and I want to raise awareness of cardiac arrests, especially within sport and among young people. We started an Instagram platform called My S-ICD and Me, which focuses on the importance of CPR and AED training through sharing our story.

“We offer a safe space where people can share their personal journeys, ask questions and, most importantly, get involved.

“We are raising money for pioneering research into heart-related issues while also offering training courses and heart screening to the community.

“We will be donating to St George’s University Hospital as without them and Kitty I would not be here today. St George’s gave me life, so I owe them more than money.”

Morgan and Kitty are accompanying the runners in a van and running parts of the way themselves. They have all been staying in hotels each night.

Speaking from France, Iwan said: “It has been tough, to be honest. We set out wanting to challenge ourselves and we have definitely done that.

“It has been much harder than we expected. The foot injuries and the mental side of having to do it every day are things you can’t quite prepare for.

“This is just back-to-back running. We have all run marathons before. I’d say two three each during training.

“We are expecting to finish on Friday at about 2pm UK time and we will have 30 to 40 friends and family waiting for us at the finish line.”

To make a donation, visit https://tinyurl.com/
arch2arcrun