Aortic Dissection Awareness - Today is a Good Day

Aortic Dissection kills more people in the UK each year than road traffic accidents.

In 2016, a small group of survivors got together and set out to change the UK Aortic Dissection landscape. This is their story, so far...

David Owens is a 21-year old aeronautical engineer, photographer and amateur film maker from the UK. He is affected by the rare genetic disease Marfan Syndrome and does his media work despite having partial vision in one eye only. As a student at Loughborough University, David was Head of Lens at LSU Media and won 'Best Animation' at the 2019 National Student Television Awards for his short animated film 'Dangerously Cheesy'.

David explains: "As someone affected by Marfan Syndrome, whose Dad and Grandad both had Aortic Dissections at the age of 49, I have a strong personal interest in the subject of this film. My aim was to raise awareness of Aortic Dissection and to chart the rise and impact of the national patient association, Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland, since it's inception in 2016. It's not just the story of an organisation though. It's a story about people finding each other in the midst of terrible adversity; bonding through their shared experience of a life-threatening rare disease; and setting out to change the national healthcare landscape for the benefit of other patients and relatives. What they have achieved in four short years is truly inspiring."