Dawn’s Story

Every so often we at NHS Lothian Charity are humbled by the amazing efforts of patients, friends and supporters, who want to say thank you to the hospital staff who cared for them. This is one such story, and in return we’d like to say a massive THANK YOU! to Dawn Gall for running her first half marathon and raising £600 for cardiac surgery research at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in the process.

“On the 28th May 2017 I ran my first ever Edinburgh Half Marathon. This was something only 18 months before, I would never have considered possible. In November 2015 I underwent open heart surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, to replace my aortic valve with a mechanical one. Having been born with this congenital heart defect, it deteriorated as I got older, until I couldn’t even climb the stairs at home without struggling for breath. The surgery changed my life so much and gave me back a quality of life I hadn’t had for a number of years and for the first time in a long time, I was able to exercise fully. After seeing my husband complete the 2016 half marathon, I decide I wanted to do the same the following year and decided to do it to raise money for Cardiac Surgery Research at the RIE. I wanted to say thank you and give something back to all the staff in the unit who had cared and helped me over the years, especially those during my surgery and I thought the best way to do this was by doing something that I would never have been able to do without having had this surgery. So, on the 28th May 2017 I ran and completed the Edinburgh Half Marathon and hope that in doing so, the money raised will go towards helping other people who need heart surgery, to one day be able to do something they also thought they never would.”