SCAD patients Bronnach Pemberton and Rebecca Breslin have both won British Heart Foundation Heart Heroes awards.
The annual Heart Hero Awards recognise and celebrate the exceptional contribution that BHF supporters, fundraisers, volunteers and partners make to the charity’s mission to “fight for every heartbeat”.
Bronnach won the Influencing award in the North of England. Since having her SCAD event after the birth of her third child, she has been pro-active in raising awareness of both spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) and heart failure. Watch her story here.
She said: “I am very honoured to have been nominated never mind actually winning this award. It is bittersweet however. As much as I am happy to have won, I would have loved to have never been ill in the first place. It was very humbling to have been amongst other nominees at the ceremony.
“The conference was an amazing experience, it highlighted how the money we raise is spent and how it benefits people like myself and the other SCAD survivors.
“My son enjoyed the day and has been talking about pursuing a career in medical research.”
Beat SCAD Chair and co-founder, Rebecca Breslin, won the Innovation award in the Midlands. The BHF said she “single-handedly pushed for pioneering BHF-funded research into the condition, sought out other SCAD patients to form a support network and made sure they had a voice in the research. As if that wasn’t enough, she was a leading light in setting up the new awareness-raising charity Beat SCAD”. Watch the BHF video about the research here.
She said: “I had a fantastic day at the BHF Midlands Supporter Conference. There were lots of interesting and enthusiastic people representing some of the BHF’s important heart research. The Heart Hero Awards in the afternoon were emotional and inspirational – so many amazing people involved in fundraising and other activities for the BHF, including my fellow category finalists (pictured) and some awesome youngsters.
“I am immensely proud to have won the Innovation category and it is truly a tribute to our global SCAD community who have rallied together with the shared mission to find answers about SCAD.
“I was over the moon to hear that the SCADsters had a double scoop with Bronnach winning her Influencing category award too. We are always keen for a platform to talk about SCAD and the BHF have been fantastic in supporting our efforts – huge thanks to all at the BHF.”
Congratulations to both Bronnach and Rebecca for their achievements in winning these awards.
