A cardiac charity has appointed the father of one of the patient’s it has supported as its next chief executive.

Heartbeat, which supports the work of Wessex Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital, has announced that its new CEO is Mark Ind, who has been fundraising for the charity for more than 20 years after supporting his son Alex, who was born with a congenital heart condition.

This is the first charity leadership appointment for Ind, who is a former hotel manager. He replaces John Munro who has relocated to Scotland.

“My son has undergone several serious and intrusive open-heart procedures over the years, which has given our family a valuable insight into the amazing work that the cardiac team at the Wessex Cardiac Centre, do,” said Ind.

“It has meant that I now have a passion and interest in both preventative and reactive heart care.

“Gaining the role of CEO of Heartbeat is a true privilege, and I cannot wait to build on the great work that John, his predecessors, and his wonderful team have done over the past 30 years.”

We are pleased to announce that #Heartbeat has appointed Mark Ind as its new chief executive.

Read the full story here: https://t.co/9sRfgdMs9K#CardiacCharity #CharityNews #Charity #WessexHeartbeat pic.twitter.com/0nQUKs9UPx

— Heartbeat 💙 (@UkHeartbeat) February 21, 2023

He added that he is looking to build awareness of the charity across the wide region it covers, including Dorset, Isle of Wight, Channel Islands and Oxford.

“Now we are emerging from the post-covid era, there are great opportunities for us as a charity to get out into the local and business communities,” he said.

Ind’s son Alex is now in his 20s and has had four bouts of open heart surgery.

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