A Warfare Specialist from HMS Collingwood is about to embark upon a mammoth challenge to raise money for a charity very close to his heart.
On 17th June, POWS (AWT) (Petty Officer Warfare Specialist, Above Water Training) 42 year old Christopher Potter will tackle the tough 54 mile London to Brighton bike ride solo to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and to support research that helped save his life.
In April 2017 Christopher was sitting at his desk in HMS King Alfred on Whale Island in Portsmouth when he suffered a sudden and massive cardiac arrest.
In hospital Christopher was placed in a medically induced coma for 9 days during which he succumbed to an aggressive form of pneumonia, meaning the hospital struggled to revive him.
Finally he awoke and was discharged from hospital after just 3 weeks recovery. Then followed a long period of convalescence at home, which saw him forbidden to return to work until November.
He’s now had an Internal Cardiac Defibrillation unit fitted that is monitored remotely via a mobile telephone connection and which can sense when his heart begins to beat irregularly and correct it immediately and, if his heart should stop again, it will administer a shock to revive him.
As soon as he was allowed by the hospital he began riding with the aim of completing this challenge and Christopher has been training for his epic bike ride by riding up to 20 miles per day and 37 at weekends, reaching 45 miles on occasion.
Explaining why he wanted to tackle this challenge he said, “Less than ten per cent of people who have a sudden cardiac arrest outside hospital survive and I decided to do this myself to raise money for the British Heart Foundation for their work.
“Their research into heart conditions will help beat what is the biggest killer.”
To support Christopher and donate to The British Heart Foundation to further their excellent work, please visit www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Potter2018
