By Dylan Johnston

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Sandra Duffy, is lighting up Strabane’s Alley Theatre and Council Office on Strand Road in red this week to mark the start of Heart month.

The month-long campaign is held annually to promote heart health. Around 18,000 people in the Derry City and Strabane Council area are living with heart and circulatory diseases, leading to an average of 24 deaths each month.

It is estimated that someone dies from a heart or circulatory disease every 31 hours in the council area. There are around 1,400 out of hospital cardiac arrests in Northern Ireland each year.

Every minute without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chances of survival by up to ten per cent while performing CPR can more than double survival rates in some cases.

“I’m proud that Council is supporting NI Chest Heart and Stroke by lighting up its civic buildings red this Wednesday February 1,” said Mayor Duffy.

“Sadly four people in NI die every day from heart disease and coronary heart disease is the biggest single cause of premature deaths in the under 75s.

“I would encourage everyone to take part in the Red Dress Fund Fun event taking place during National Heart Month.

“It is so important that, as a community, we raise support and awareness to help reduce these staggering figures.”

Last year, the charity hosted their biggest and most successful Red Dress Fun Run with just under 600 participants coming together at the event at Stormont estate, as well as a virtual session that saw participants taking part in their local area and raising a staggering £50,000 to combat heart disease.

The same format remains for 2023, allowing people who can’t make it the main event on Sunday February 26th to complete 5k their way during the month of February.

Head of the British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland, Fearghal McKinney, added:

“February is Heart Month and provides an opportunity for people to think about their heart health and to support efforts to fight heart and circulatory diseases.

“This year, our focus is on giving as many people as possible the opportunity to learn the lifesaving skill of CPR so they can with confidence if someone experiences a cardiac arrest.

“We have developed a free app called RevivR which teaches CPR skills in just 15 minutes using only a smartphone or tablet and a cushion.

“Everyone has the potential to be a lifesaver and we would encourage everyone to learn CPR this heart month.”

You can sign up to the Red Dress Fun Fun at www.nichs.org.uk/reddressfunrun.

Find out more about getting a primary school involved at www.nichs.orh.uk/PSRedDressFunRun.