Daughter raises money for Queen Alexandra Hospital after they saved her mother's life

Susan Sheppard with her daughter, Kim Piper, centre, with the paramedic team, Celine McCague, Justin Hurst and Natalie Andrews who saved Susan's life.
Picture: Habibur Rahman — Susan Sheppard with her daughter, Kim Piper, centre, with the paramedic team, Celine McCague, Justin Hurst and Natalie Andrews who saved Susan's life. Picture: Habibur Rahman

As reported in The News, Susan Sheppard, 62, collapsed after a cardiac arrest and was rushed to Queen Alexandra Hospital. She was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator which automatically detects and restarts Susan’s heart should it stop.

To raise money for the Cardiology Unit, daughter, Kim Piper, 33, has had her flowing locks removed.

Kim said: ‘Without the hospital staff my mum wouldn’t be here. They were so amazing with my mother that I wanted to do something to show my support. I have a disability which restricts me physically but I had really long hair and so getting 14 inches cut off was something I could do.’

Kim is hoping to update the equipment being used by hospital staff.

‘It was whilst my mother was being cared for that I noticed how dated a lot of the monitoring equipment was. Sometimes it wouldn’t work as it wasn’t holding its charge. My aim is to raise £3,000 to cover the cost of two new machines to monitor blood pressure and oxygen levels,’ said Kim.

Susan’s brother, Nathan Bray, 53, has also been fundraising by taking part in the Brit Butt Rally – a gruelling 1,300 mile motorcycle journey in less than 36 hours.

Nathan said: ‘I’m so grateful to the staff at the hospital. The care given to my sister was exceptional. So far I have raised in excess of £1,000.’

With Kim having raised £314 from her sponsored hair cut she is now looking for other ways to to generate the remaining funds, including a potential abseil down the Spinnaker Tower.

‘I will not give up until I reach my target, but it’s also about raising awareness as heart failure can potentially hit one in five people and early diagnosis is crucial,’ said Kim.

Proud mum, Susan, said: ‘Kim and Nathan’s efforts are amazing. I owe the staff at Queen Alexandra my life but the high dependency unit needs more equipment. If people were to donate 50p each it would make such a difference.’

To contribute to Kim’s cause go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/for-heart-failure-ward-queen-alexandra?utm_id=26