Our journey began almost 8 years ago when we decided to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation by taking part in the Marlow Open Water 1-mile swim in memory of our younger sister Heather. Heather was an incredible woman who gave so much of herself to so many and her untimely passing on 16th Dec 2009 from a heart condition we knew nothing about was a shock to us all.

Since then, we have upped the ante every year, completing longer and more challenging swims that includes a 2-person English Channel Relay, an English Channel Solo, and 2 ice miles (a 1-mile swim in sub 5-degree water).

In choosing our team name, we knew that it needed to be meaningful and something that embodied the 3 of us. We eventually settled on 'Aitch Sea Jays'. Albeit a little odd, it’s a name that carries a simple explanation - as children, we all had the same initials 'HCJ'. Over the last few years, we have amassed a healthy collection of medals and trophies for our efforts, and we have always sought to include Heather in this. At each event the organisers have been only too happy to arrange for us to lay some flowers in the water along the route for Heather and to reward us with a 3rd medal. These are then taken with us on our annual trip to Cyprus, a place that holds some incredible memories of the 3 of us growing up and having so much fun together. There is a small jetty where we decided to place some of Heathers ashes. We now visit this jetty each year to share our stories and our collection of rewards with her. The sea bed is somewhat littered with medals that we have left for our mermaid to enjoy.

They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone and every year we have committed to raising the bar. The support and generosity of all of our family and friends has been tested to the maximum, yet they still continue to believe in what we are trying to achieve, both in memory of Heather and in raising awareness of the work and research that the British Heart Foundation do. Every day, we know that Heather is watching and that she is immensely proud of us, just as we are proud of the legacy that she left behind in her children Hollie, David, the late Charlie and her grandsons Charlie and Finley.

Pariter.In Aeternum.Quocumque