Charity event nets £10,200 to battle rare condition

A Dromara woman who suffers from Pulmonary Hyptertension is among the organisers of a fundraising dinner dance now celebrating a charity total of £10,200.
Ally Whan from Dromara and Alana Smyth from Ballynahinch with a cheque for £10,200 raised for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK.Ally Whan from Dromara and Alana Smyth from Ballynahinch with a cheque for £10,200 raised for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK.
Ally Whan from Dromara and Alana Smyth from Ballynahinch with a cheque for £10,200 raised for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK.

Ally Whan was one of a number of PH sufferers to organise the October event, with Johnny Brady and his band, at the La Mon Hotel & Country Club.

The event was aimed at raising awareness of the condition as well as much-needed funds for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK.

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Put simply, Pulmonary Hypertension is high blood pressure in the lungs.

The heart is not designed to pump against the high pressures and over time starts to fail.

Said Ally: “PH is a devastating but thankfully rare disease that currently only has one definitive cure - a lung transplant or heart and lung transplant.”

Alone among the organisers of the charity event, Alana Smyth from Ballynahinch has had a lung transplant, said to have changed her life for the better since she underwent surgery at Freemans Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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More than 360 people attended the dinner dance, which featured a raffle and auction and saw Royal Victoria Hospital cardiologist, Dr Carol Wilson, open the evening with a brief overview of Pulmonary Hypertension and the importance of organ donation.

According to Ally, many of the guests in attendance have since registered as organ donors. “A big thanks goes to family, friends and businesses for their generosity and their support for the auction and raffle, where donations ranged from a bottle of wine to a double date,” she said.

“Our thanks also go to John Burton for being our auctioneer; he provided invaluable entertainment on the night.

“A fantastic amount of £10,200 was raised from this dinner dance, which will go towards the research of Pulmonary Hypertension to help find new medicines and hopefully a cure

- apart from transplant - for this hateful and extremely rare disease

“Thank you to all who attended the dinner dance; your presence was gratefully appreciated.”