My name is Leia, and this May I want to help Ruben's Fund to get to their mid-way target of £100,000.

So my target is now to swimming 10km in May, and I would love for you all to help me reach my target.

All little bit about Ruben:

Ruben was born with GACI (Generalized arterial calcification of infancy), which causes high blood pressure and a strain on the heart. This ultimately caused him to suffer with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is an enlarged heart that is unable to pump the blood round the body effectively. Ruben sadly passed away on the 12 January 2022.

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart that affects around 1 in 250 people in the UK and is the leading cause for cardiac transplantation. Cardiomyopathy in children is much rarer, affecting about 1 in 100,000 infants, with dilated cardiomyopathy accounting for over half of those cases. It is a serious condition, with a high burden on the child and family, and sadly a high mortality rate.

Ruben’s Fund is raising money to set up a focused and dedicated project to research genetic diagnosis, which can help predict disease course, open avenues for personalised treatment, and have implications for family screening. As most paediatric cardiomyopathy remains genetically unexplained, there is an urgent need to better understand genetic susceptibility and underlying disease mechanisms.

Ruben's mum, dad and brother are aiming to raise £200,000 to help other families avoid this devastating situation, so I have set up this challenge to support their goals. Any donation big or small is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!! Charlotte Dyer