A heart consultant keen to reduce the number of young deaths from inherited heart disease is piloting a plane round the world to raise awareness of the conditions and their treatments.
Consultant cardiologist Nigel Wheeldon, who is also a commercial pilot, is flying into Southampton on Monday, July 30th for his first awareness meeting before jetting on to Milan and then a host of countries around the world including North Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, America and Canada.
Captain Wheeldon hopes his trip, called Flight for Hearts, will create more interest in providing better services and support for families affected by inherited heart diseases that include cardiomyopathy, long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome. These conditions, which often run in families, cause up to eight sudden deaths a week in the UK in the under 35s.
The captain, who leads the regional genetic heart disease service in Sheffield, has taken a three-month career break from his work to present a major series of lectures for medical people around the world and other publicity events.
His first meeting is in the Heartbeat lecture theatre at Southampton General Hospital on July 30th between 1.30pm and 4pm. Among the audience will be cardiologists, nurses and representatives from charities that support affected families.
Captain Wheeldon said: "Sudden death in young people is dreadful. It takes young lives, shatters dreams and destroys families but it is preventable. Unfortunately awareness of inherited heart disorders by health professions and the general public is limited, and dedicated services are few and far between.
"Families are often left desperate for answers and would have nowhere to turn to without the goodwill and considerable dedication of charities working to help them – the Cardiomyopathy Association, Cry (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and Sads UK.
Representatives from the three charities will also be giving presentations on their work at the Southampton meeting.
Captain Wheeldon will be piloting a Cessna 421 aircraft with fellow commercial pilots Captain Kevin Rowell and Captain Geoff McPhail, supported on the flight by Sister Wai Yee Wheeldon. They are getting ground assistance from an operations team of Leeds University aviation graduates.
Messages of support for the trip, due to finish back in the UK on September 16th, have come from Tony Blair, former health secretary Patricia Hewitt and opposition leaders David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell.
For more information go to www.flightforhearts.org. To sponsor Nigel go to www.justgiving.com/flightforhearts
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Dedicated to Damian McLoughlin, who died age 20 of cardiomyopathy. This site is supported by Damian's family and friends.
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