On Air Manx Radio Breakfast Ben Hartley | 6:00am - 9:00am

Island resident raising awareness of mental challenges after medical diagnoses 

Picture credit: Dan Williams

Dan Williams to swim 3,000 lengths in June for charity

An Isle of Man resident is raising awareness of the mental challenges after hearing life threatening news. 

Dan Williams who has sudden death syndrome is taking on a challenge for Craig's Heartstrong Foundation and Isle Listen by swimming 3,000 lengths at the NSC. 

That equates to 100 lengths a day and 75km in total.

"I have been through a rollercoaster of emotions from thinking I’m going to die to I can still live a very normal life."

At 39, Dan was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is a thickening of the heart, 15 years ago this month. 

"When you encounter a personal illness you don’t think about how differently people start to treat you, in work you suddenly become overlooked because they think you are no longer capable. 
"Friends can suddenly distance themselves because they don’t know what to say to you."

Dan explains why he wants to raise money for the two charities: 

Dan says he has had the condition since he was a child, but doctors at the time told him he was experiencing 'chest pains'. 

The 54-year-old spent four years training and conditioning for this challenge has swam over 300 lengths so far. 

You can find Dan's Just Giving Page HERE.

More from Isle of Man News