A NORTHWICH charity that has been saving the lives of young adults for the past 11 years needs your help to win a share of £16,000 – and there’s just a few days left to cast your vote.
The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund has been chosen as Northwich’s representative in the Northwich and Winsford Guardian’s Cash for Charities campaign.
Aaron Dixon was just 23 when he died after suffering a cardiac arrest in September 2011.
He had an arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy – a genetic heart defect, which he and his family knew nothing about.
His heart-broken family set up the Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund in his memory to screen young adults between the ages of 14 and 35 for undetected heart defects, something which isn’t provided on the NHS.
The Gannett Foundation, which is our parent company’s charitable arm, is giving away £128,000 to support local charities across the country and we have a £16,000 share to distribute across the north west.
There are just a few days left to collect tokens printed inside the paper which can then be sent to collection points across the area or posted in to us.
Each token collected will be used to allocate the cash to the nominated charity – so if The Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund collects 50 per cent of all tokens collected it will receive 50 per cent of the £16,000.
Any money that the Northwich charity receives will go towards funding the scheduled screening days in Northwich throughout 2023.
Aaron’s mum Deborah Dixon has raised £440,000 over the past 11 years which has paid for 4,805 young adults to be screened with 168 being referred.
Charlotte Carney Hughes was screened in 2016 when she was 19 and the results of the tests were life-changing.
Charlotte said: “I was always the child who go in for a nap when I was playing out because I was so tired.
“As I got older, I would faint if I was too hot or stood up for too long but it wasn’t until I was 17 that I noticed just how tired I was – nobody else seemed to fall asleep in the library like me.
“At university, I would get out of breath walking round campus and despite seeing the GP several times, I was told it was a possible chest infection or asthma or anxiety.
“My mum’s friend Debbie was holding free cardiac screening days near us and my mum was keen for me to go and check I didn’t have a problem with my heart.
“After talking through my symptoms, the doctor doing the screening asked if I wanted an echo exam as an extra test and said that I would be referred to a cardiologist.”
From that point, things moved quickly and Charlotte had numerous tests with doctors thinking her heart was the wrong way round.
In January 2017, she was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy and was told she was in heart failure with a huge clot in her right arm because her right atrium was so large.
Charlotte said: “I was put on a whole host of medication but told that there was no cure for my condition and by the summer of 2017 I was referred to see the transplant team.
“Just three weeks later I underwent a heart transplant.
“Initially, my new heart didn’t work properly but thanks to the drugs, machinery and physio, I made it through and four weeks later I was allowed to return home.”
Charlotte will mark the five-year anniversary of her heart transplant in February next year.
Following her operation she returned to university and graduated and she married boyfriend Ciaran in September.
She said: “It was such an emotional weekend knowing just how lucky we are to still be here together.
“I dread to think how different things could have ended up if I hadn’t gone for that heart screening but I’m grateful that I did.”
Charlotte raised £6,000 for the Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund when she held a charity ball at Hartford Golf Club.
To get this week’s token and vote for the Aaron Dixon Memorial Fund, turn to page 8 in this week’s Northwich and Winsford Guardian.
The deadline for votes is Sunday, November 20.
You can post your tokens or drop them off at collection points which are located at the following places:
- Vale Royal Abbey Arms, Chester Road, Northwich, CW8 2HB
- Fresh Floral Design, 289 Chester Road, Hartford, CW8 1QL
- The Cutting Lounge, 228 London Road, Northwich, CW9 8AQ
- Willowgreen Home & Gifts, 463 London Road, Davenham, CW9 8NA
- Greenwood Lighting, 59 Mere Lane, Sandiway, CW8 2NR
- Premier Stores Cuddington, 109-113 Norley Road, Cuddington, CW8 2LE
- Tesco Extra Superstore, Manchester Road, Northwich, CW9 5LY
- Sainsbury’s, Venables Road, Northwich, CW9 5RT
- Waitrose, 22 London Road, Northwich, CW9 5HD
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