WHEN Craig Potter announced he was going to run 47 10km runs in a row people asked why such a strange number?

But determined Craig is on a mission to raise awareness of the shocking statistic that 47 people a day are dying in Scotland due to cardiovascular disease.

You see last year Craig’s mum Theresa, a woman devoted to the community of Kilwinning, passed away suddenly.

Theresa became a stalwart within the Kilwinning community working for over 20 years within the Pennyburn area and being integral in helping the team buy their own community centre, Playz for the PRYDE Youth Group.

She went on to work with Kilwinning Academy helping to develop strategies for the focus on the mental health of the students and during the lockdown Theresa had been supporting the Garnock Valley community hub, helping to organise food parcels and prescription deliveries for residents in need.

Shattered by his mum’s death and concerned that his mum had shown no symptoms before suffering a heart attack, he decided it was time to devise a plan to help fund research.

Craig and his supporters will be running 10k for 47 days in a row in memory of his mum Theresa, pictured.

Craig and his supporters will be running 10k for 47 days in a row in memory of his mum Theresa, pictured.

“We were all left stunned when mum died,” said Craig.

“She hadn’t shown what we thought were typical symptoms, she didn’t have chest pain, but we found out from a nurse who said that women often suffer what seems to be gastrointestinal symptoms.

“We were even more shocked and when we found out that 47 people die from a heart attack in Scotland every day, we knew that we had to try and raise awareness of that.

“So I’m running 10k for 47 days in a row to raise awareness of the fact that 47 people a day in Scotland are dying of cardiovascular disease.”

Craig and dad Dougie took time choosing a charity and at the back of their minds was the 47 people, like Theresa, suffering a fatal heart attack.

“My mum was a proud Scot and a passionate campaigner who always had a strong voice when it was needed. We hope to continue the impact she always had by supporting Heart Research UK,” said Craig.

“The goal is to eventually set up two research funds in her memory, one of the research studies will look at the ways women are affected by heart disease and the second research fund will look at statistics that show you are three times more likely to suffer a heart attack in Scotland than you are in London.

“We want to help the charity fund the research into these areas and even though the challenge will be tough, we all know that mum will be with us every step of the way from March 24 until that day that would have been her birthday on May 9.”

Help Team Theresa here