Duchess of York Performs Her First Appointment As BHF Ambassador by Highlighting Women and Heart Disease Awareness Month

Dear Editor,

This September is ‘Women and Heart Disease Awareness Month’ at
the British Heart Foundation (BHF), a cause I feel extremely
passionate about.

On 20th September I was officially announced as a BHF Ambassador,
marking the occasion by spending the morning at The William Harvey
Heart Centre, Queen Mary University of London, where the BHF funds
life saving heart research.

I spoke with BHF researchers at the university about research they
are doing into pre-eclampsia, the leading cause of death worldwide for
women during pregnancy, and heart transplant rejection. I spoke with
BHF researchers at the university about research they are doing into
pre-eclampsia, the leading cause of death worldwide for women during
pregnancy and heart transplant rejection. This research is of
particular interest to me, as my mother was previously diagnosed with
pre-eclampsia which resulted in my sister Sophie being stillborn.

It is estimated that globally around 76,000 pregnant women die each
year from pre-eclampsia and related hypertensive disorders. Whilst at
Queen Mary’s I also met various women who are fighting a daily
battle with heart disease. These women included Bina Ghelani and her
baby Aarya. Bina was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia when she was 32
weeks pregnant with Aarya. Thankfully they both made a full recovery
but this is something no family should have to face.

It’s a very sad reality that coronary heart disease remains the
UK’s single biggest killer. It kills twice as many women as breast
cancer. In Wales there are 375,000 people alone living a daily battle
with cardiovascular disease. 2,500 lives are lost every year in Wales
because of these devastating conditions.

But there is hope. The BHF currently funds 18 research projects at
Institutions across Wales to help fight this heartless disease.

It’d like to encourage all Welsh readers to help fund the BHF’s
life saving research this September by donating any unwanted items to
your local BHF Wales shop. I have already donated a bag of my unwanted
items to the BHF’s Bag It Beat It (BIBI) campaign, their annual
stock donation campaign this September so you all must! The BHF has a
1 million bag target throughout the month. Your donations really are a
life savers.

For more information on the BHF and their Bag It Beat It campaign
visit www.bhf.org.uk/bagit [1]. To book a free collection call, 0808
250 0024.

Yours
sincerely,

The Duchess of York

Ambassador for the British Heart Foundation