Jon’s Big Tri raises £3,475 for babies born with serious heart conditions.

On Saturday 8th June, Tiny Tickers’ CEO, Jon Arnold, took himself on a journey of 230 miles and raised a fantastic £3,475 for babies born with serious heart conditions. As well as heading the charity, Jon is a heart dad – his daughter Zoe was born 12 years ago with a congenital heart defect (read Zoe’s story here).

“I am absolutely staggered by the backing I received from Tiny Tickers’ supporters and the amount we raised is just superb. The charity will be able to do so much good work with that money, and I’m so grateful to everyone who donated to Jon’s Big Tri. Also a big thank you to everyone who sent messages of support – they were great motivation when things got tough. It was one heck of an adventure and has given me memories that I’ll look back on fondly for years.”

The momentous challenge saw Jon cycle, swim and run 230 miles across the Yorkshire Dales from his house in Leeds to the Lake District and back again over the course of 5 days. His legs were sore and his feet had disowned him by the end but what an adventure. To find out more about this epic challenge, take a look at his Facebook Fundraiser here.

Jon’s Story:

Jon is dad to Max (9), Danny (6) and 12 year-old Zoe. Zoe’s heart condition was picked up at Jon’s wife, Andrea’s, 20 week pregnancy scan. Jon says, ‘Zoe was diagnosed with a complete atrioventricular septal defect – a big hole in the middle of all four chambers of the heart, and one valve where there should be two. We also learned at the scan that she would have Down’s Syndrome. She is Daddy’s little princess. A very precious little princess.’

Baby Zoe after heart surgery in intensive care

Jon continues, ‘Early detection of congenital heart defects in babies greatly improves their chances of survival – and this is where Tiny Tickers comes in. We train health professionals to be better able to detect heart problems during pregnancy, place pulse oximetry machines (which can help detect heart defects in newborns) in hospitals and provide support to families who are dealing with a diagnosis.’

Well Done Jon! (watch this space for his next adventure)

Jon & Zoe