Heart Heroes

Press release from the British Heart Foundation.

"Three friends from West Sussex have been named as ‘heart heroes’ by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at a star-studded awards ceremony in London.  

"James Ashman, James MacLean and Don Hoare won the Lasting Legacy category for their fundraising efforts over the last eight years. The trio organise an annual golf day that has now raised over £50,000.

"The group were motivated to start the event following the death of Daniel Hoare who died suddenly in November 2011 as he was running to catch a train at Worthing station. A post-mortem revealed that Daniel – who was just 18 years old at the time - had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic condition that causes walls of the heart to become thickened.

"Daniel’s dad Don was abroad on holiday and sadly could not make the awards but Daniel’s childhood friends James and James rang him straight after receiving it on stage to tell him. 

"Don Hoare said: 'Winning this award means a huge amount not only to me but to everyone who has supported us and the golf days over the last eight years. It’s so important to us to raise the money we do for BHF research because it was an undetected heart condition that killed Daniel. We will keep on fundraising as a testament to Daniel and to help provide answers for other families.'

"James Ashman: 'We never expected to win it was enough just to be in a room with so many other inspirational, amazing people and it means the world to Don, James and I. We were in shock to be honest and felt really humbled by it.

“We are already planning the next golf day for next year. We had a chat with Vernon Kay who hosted the awards and he said he’d like to take part and play so we’re hoping to take him up on that…it would be fantastic if he had the time to come along'.

"James Maclean: 'It was very emotional to get the award and we know Daniel would have been absolutely made up. Don was on holiday so couldn’t attend the awards sadly but we called him as soon as we could to tell him we’d won. That was a very emotional call.'

"This was the BHF’s second year of hosting the prestigious awards, celebrating individuals of all ages who have shown immense strength in the face of adversity or have made a significant impact in helping those living with heart and circulatory diseases.  

"The event was hosted by Vernon Kay, with an array of performers and judges in attendance including Penny Lancaster, Luke Pritchard from The Kooks, The Mac Twins, Louisa Johnson and James Taylor.  

"Vernon Kay, host of the awards, said: “It was an honour to host this year’s Heart Hero Awards; it’s always a pleasure to be a part of fantastic BHF events. The night was pretty spectacular and it was the perfect tribute to the worthy nominees and winners who have all shown great courage and strength.” 

"Other celebrities who attended and showed their support for the Heart Hero Awards included: Gaby Roslin, Glenn Hoddle, Aimee Fuller, Joshua Kane, Meg Matthews, Richard Jones, Dr Zoe Williams and Anthony Ogogo. 

"Nominations are now open for next year’s Heart Hero Awards. If you know someone worthy of being celebrated for something incredibly they have done for heart health or shown outstanding bravery despite their own heart conditions, you can nominate them here: https://www.bhf.org.uk/heartheroes"