Life has changed a lot for Mid Ulster hero Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown has been nominated in the Innovative Fundraiser category for this year’s British Heart Foundation (BHF) Heart Hero Awards 2021.

This is a new category introduced to acknowledge those who found creative ways of raising money as fundraising events across the country were postponed and cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The winner will be decided by a public vote which opened on Monday.

Lisa said: “When I heard I had been shortlisted for the BHF Heart Hero Awards, I couldn’t believe it. I never set out to win any awards.

“The heart condition is very limiting. Life has changed a lot for me. I loved going for long walks around the coast but I can’t do that now. I tire very easily and I suppose in a way I’m grieving for things I used to be able to do like the big long walks and cycling, but I’m very grateful for the things I can do.

“But I want to look forward and I know the BHF’s research has helped me in the past and I hope that by raising funds it will help me in the future. I’m very proud to be nominated and to play my part in raising money for heart research.”

This is the fourth BHF Heart Hero Awards, an opportunity to honour the health professionals and members of the public who do so much to help save and improve the lives of those with heart and circulatory diseases. And this year there is an additional reason to celebrate, as the BHF marks its 60th anniversary.

Voting for the Innovative Fundraiser Award runs online from until Sunday September 8, and the winner will be revealed at a star-studded virtual awards ceremony, premiering live on YouTube on World Heart Day on September 29. The winners of the BHF’s My Healthcare Hero, Young Heart Hero (under 18) and CPR Hero Awards will also be unveiled on the night.

‘Heart Hero’ can be anyone: From a nurse or doctor working in the field of heart disease who has helped a family, to a young person with heart disease who has shown incredible courage and determination, or a fantastic fundraiser.

Fearghal McKinney, Head of BHF Northern Ireland, said: “It has been an incredibly challenging year for heart and circulatory disease patients and their families, for our research community and for the BHF. And yet despite these challenges, we have been constantly inspired by the amazing support we have received and the remarkable achievements of so many people, like Lisa, who have gone above and beyond, despite the pandemic, to help us. We have many reasons to celebrate – especially as we turn 60 - and we cannot wait to join our wonderful supporters at this year’s virtual Heart Hero Awards in September.”

To place your vote for Lisa in the BHF Innovative Fundraiser and to find out more about the BHF Heart Hero Awards go to www.bhf.org.uk/heartheroes.

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