On Thursday 29th March 2018 our dad Colin Jones, aged just 59, lost his fight against heart disease at Harefield Hospital. 

Dad was diagnosed with heart disease (dilated cardiomyopathy) at the age of 35. He lived a relatively normal life with the aid medication controlling the effects of his heart disease. Despite having this terrible disease he continued to work and do all the things he enjoyed most; going on holiday and spending time with his family. 

In 2014, dad had a pacemaker fitted but still managed to live a pretty normal life. He was a big family man and adored his wife of 38 years, his 4 daughters and 4 grandchildren (his 5th grandchild was born a week and a day after his passing, he never got to meet her). 

In January 2018 dad went into heart failure, where he spent time on the ICU ward at Torbay Hospital. During this time he was monitored closely by Harefield Hospital via a computer he was connected to. This was in order to ensure they were able to offer dad the best possible care he needed once a bed became available.

When dad arrived at Harefield, he was treated as an individual and his care was 5 star. We were all made to feel welcome when we visited him. Mum (who stayed with dad the whole time he was in Harefield) was also well cared for which was one thing dad insisted on, as well as us, his daughters. Harefield was always one step ahead and had a plan in place for everything.

After he was transferred to Harefield, Dad was put on ECMO as his heart wasn’t strong enough to keep going. The next step after that was for dad to have an LVAD fitted. Unfortunately, dad was just too poorly and he didn’t come round from his anaesthetic. He passed away peacefully on March the 29th 2018 with mum and his sister by his side. 

We will be forever grateful for everything Harefield did for dad and our family. They never gave up on him and did everything they could to help him. 

After dad passed away we decided as a family that we need to do something to raise money and awareness for heart disease, this is where the King of Hearts Ball was born. The ball was on 3rd November 2018 in Torquay. It made a tidy profit of £3000, divided equally between the Harefield Transplant Appeal and the British Heart Foundation. Due to the success of the ball it will now be hosted yearly in Torquay the next being on 2nd November 2019.