New Charity Launch: Our Support for The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust

 

Over the coming months, we will be announcing three charities that we will be supporting. All of these have one thing in common ... they have had a personal impact on us and we want to channel our efforts to make a difference to the causes.  

 

We are delighted to announce the launch of the first of our charities we are supporting, The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust, which we are extremely passionate about. 

This is a new charity and is close to us, as Ben Latham, a dear colleague and friend, tragically lost his life suddenly in December 2018. Recently, Ben's mother Pauline Latham MP along with another trustee Catherine Fowler set up The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust (TADCT) to increase awareness of the condition.. 

 

Aortic Dissection occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart. The condition doesn't discriminate by age, with 50% of people sufferiing from Aortic Dissection being under the age of 60.  

 

The Trust has been founded by people who have lost the lives of their family members due to the condition. Like many other sufferers, if the symptoms had been correctly diagnosed, life saving surgery could have been performed. The trust aims to raise awareness of the symptoms, increase research and raise awareness to reduce the amount of deaths. 

As mentioned, Ben Latham lost his life suddenly, with very little warning of his condition. Until his death, this is a condition that his family, friends and colleagues had never come across before. His death like many others could have been prevented, if the correct diagnosis had have occured. Whilst we cannot bring Ben and those who have died from this condition back, the support of this charity will help to prevent unnecessary deaths, avoiding heartache for the loved ones. 

 

Aortic Dissection lacks the awareness that more commonly known conditions have. However, 2,000 people lose their lives in the UK after Aortic Dissection - similar to the numbers dying from skin cancer or blood clots on the lung. With timely detection and transfer for surgical treatment, survival rates of over 80% can be achieved. A common issue is that most deaths are not prevented due to incorrect diagnosis. This is why the condition has been termed 'The Detectable Killer' by the trust. 

There will be many fundraising events moving forward which Customer First Digital will create in order to increase the awareness and raise funds to support further research. 

 

The first event is for Dave Trolle, founder of Customer First Digital to bike 200 miles, the equivalent of cycling from his home town to Derby, Bens birth city and back. Dave is carrying this out in stages, as fast as he possibly can. As an inexperienced biker who has only just started to ride 16 miles every Sunday, this will be a tough test for Dave. 

Dave is aiming to raise a minimum of £500 for the charity. If you would like to show your support, please visit the Just Giving page or head over to our social channels to share our updates to help spread awareness. As of today, Dave has already managed to ride over 100 miles and has so far raised £250 for the trust. 

 

The founders of The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust have also created a website where you can find more information about Aortic Dissection, the trust and how you can get involved.