I'm running the Cardiff Half Marathon in memory of my late fiancé Stuart Simpkins.

Our story. In 2019 after knowing Stuart for years we got together and became inseparable. In Autumn 2020, I took on the virtual challenge of Land's End to John O'Groats and Stuart would join in on my walks. Within a few months we knew something wasn't quite right. Stuart was becoming breathless and a few times would become dizzy close to collapsing. We had bought him an Apple Watch and out of interest he did an ecg reading which had told him he was in Atrial Fibrillation. After some nagging, he contacted his doctor and told them his symptoms and they asked for a copy of the ecg reading. Within weeks, in February 2021 he was sent to wear a ecg tracer for 48 hours. I remember us taking it back to the hospital on the Wednesday morning and by that Friday night Stuart having a phone call to come straight to hospital. He spent the next 4 nights in hospital alone and scared but due to Covid he wasn't allowed any visitors. He was hooked up to monitors and was found to have aortic stenosis. This diagnosis came as shock, the next 24 hours he would spend making a big decision to have a pacemaker fitted or not. On Monday 22nd February 2021 Stuart had his pacemaker fitted and on Tuesday I got to pick him up from hospital, and the following weeks he rested up. I the weeks and months following, he felt better, no breathlessness or dizziness. A couple of times at the pacemaker check ups where they would tweek the pacemaker it would make him feel worse and it would need to be changed again. By December 2021, Stuart wasn't feeling the best but put it down to stress at the time and even though we both worried we knew he had a check up on Tuesday 18th January 2022. At the check up he was told everything was ok and that if any symptoms persisted to contact his doctor.

On 18th January 2022, after his check up we drove home watching the sunset. Stuart headed off to work for the evening, I gave him a quick hug and kiss goodbye and then got ready for my night shift. Once Stuart got home, while I was working we chatted through messenger until after midnight when he said goodnight, see you in the morning.

On Wednesday 19th January 2022, I arrived home from work Stuart and wasn't up but that wasn't unusual. I said goodbye to one of my daughters, put the kettle on and dropped a tea bag and sugar into Stuart's mug and then headed up to our bedroom. The bedroom was in darkness but I still just went in kissed Stuart good morning like I had done so many times before apart from this time he was unresponsive and not breathing. I called my daughter back home, called 999 and we started CPR. At the time my daughter was just 15. The police and paramedics came and took over but unfortunately it was too late, on the morning of Wednesday 19th January 2022 Stuart died from a Cardiac Arrest and we lost our hero, a dad, a stepdad, a grandad, a brother, a son, a friend and my whole world 💛 

Why am I running Cardiff Half Marathon for British Heart Foundation because when Stuart was in hospital, the information about his heart condition and the pacemaker was from BHF and he signposted me to the BHF website to give me more knowledge and understanding and after he passed away when I needed answers or to feel less alone I used BHF website, plus used it to signpost friends and family to importance of CPR.

In our story we never got our happily ever after, but if raising vital funds can help another family from going through the heartache we have, then that would be an amazing achievement in memory of our hero Stuart Simpkins 06.04.1975-19.01.2022 always loved, never forgotten, forever in our hearts ❤️

The Cardiff Half Marathon has grown into one of the largest and most exciting road races in the United Kingdom. It is now one of Europe’s largest half marathons and is Wales’ largest mass participation and multi-charity fundraising event.

The event has grown significantly since it was founded by Barnardo’s in 2003 when 1,500 runners took part. It now attracts a mass race field of over 27,500 registered runners alongside world-class athletes in a trio of fiercely contested men’s, women’s and wheelchair elite races. 

Running for charity at the Cardiff Half Marathon is one of the most rewarding experiences a runner can have, marked by over £20m being raised by thousands of runners over the history of the race.