A 64-YEAR-OLD runner from Abercarn has completed his first half marathon in 28 years and raised £575 for the British Heart Foundation, in appreciation for the research they do into heart and circulatory diseases after his brother survived a heart attack.

Phil Fiander, who retired recently from Wales Council for Voluntary Action where he worked for more than 20 years, said: “My brother Dave is not a smoker, but has the occasional drink, plays golf and has been active all of his life.

"At the age of 57 we did not expect him to have a heart attack, and we are glad that he survived when many other don’t, so I wanted to raise some money for a very important cause.”

Dave, 60, has returned to work as a printer in Taunton since his heart attack and is enjoying life once more, but according to Phil, things could have been very different.

After an eventful day with family, Phil said: "At about 2am I was awoken by Dave’s wife saying that he was feeling unwell and would I take him to the hospital.

"When I asked what the matter was with him, he said he didn’t really know but he had never felt like this before. He didn’t show any of the common symptoms associated with a heart attack like sweating or pains in his chest or left arm and at that time I thought he genuinely had a touch of indigestion. I even gave him a Gaviscon!

"Dave got himself to the car and was still feeling unwell but was completely conscious. We hadn’t got half a mile down the road when the world came tumbling down. Dave collapsed in the passenger’s seat.

"His wife dialled 999 and they told us to pull over, get Dave out of the car and start CPR. The lady on the phone was brilliant and talked through everything we needed to do.

"The ambulance quickly arrived and worked on Dave for 20-25 mins before they resuscitated him. They were brilliant and ultimately, they saved his life.

"Once stabilised, they took him straight to the hospital where he was stabilised further and had a stent fitted. He was put into ITU.

"Dave was put in an induced coma for the next three days and when he awoke, he has no recollection of what happened.

"He is recovering and is now back to work. There has been damage to his heart but with tablets and monitoring, he is getting stronger. This year he was able to give his eldest daughter away at her wedding and he spends real quality time with his grandson Theo."

Phil said: "I decided to run the Cardiff virtual half marathon for the British Heart Foundation this year, and hopefully the real half marathon in March, where I hope other family and friends will run with me. Dave is hoping to walk it to raise money to help with the BHF’s research, so we hope people will visit our JustGiving page.”

Phil said: “It was hard work, and my legs were like jelly for the last two miles, but I did it!”

Head of BHF Cymru Adam Fletcher said: “We are so grateful to Phil and everyone who helps the BHF by taking on a fundraising challenge. Without their support we simply couldn’t deliver the life saving research we have done for the last 60 years.”

The BHF is encouraging everyone to take part in their Team 60 challenge to mark six decades of life saving research. To find out more, go to www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/fundraise

Phil’s fundraising page is at https://www.justgiving.com/team/RunningwithDave

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