“Dad can’t run a marathon anymore, so I’m running the marathon for him.”

Earlier this year, Mimi Lane’s life took a dramatic turn when her father, John, suffered a major heart attack at just 54 years of age. A professional singer originally from Clonmel and now based in Dublin, Mimi was busy preparing for her performance at the 3Arena in Dublin with Mark McCabe of ‘Maniac 2000’ fame when we spoke. Just one week later, she ran her first Dublin Marathon to raise awareness and funds for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Mimi had made a New Year’s resolution to run the Dublin Marathon in 2025 but felt she needed a reason. When her father suffered a heart attack on Valentine’s Day, everything changed. “Dad can’t run a marathon anymore, and he never will,” she said. “So, I’m running the marathon for him.”

Her father, who was “the epitome of good health”, had previously run marathons in Ireland and abroad and coached rugby. He was travelling for work when he began to feel unwell. He was rushing for a connecting flight through an airport in the UK with a light backpack, something that should have been easy for someone so healthy. At the gate, he found he was sweating profusely and felt extremely agitated. A child commented on how red he looked. As Mimi said, “he was having a heart attack and didn’t realise it”.

John collapsed and was rushed to hospital in Cambridge, “where the incredible staff in Royal Papworth Hospital saved his life. They were amazed that he didn’t go into cardiac arrest and put it down to his fitness and strength”. He required a large stent in his main artery and spent ten days in hospital before being transported home via ferry in an ambulance.

The experience was a huge shock for Mimi and her family.

Mimi’s two younger brothers are in college in Cork and Limerick, Mimi works and lives predominantly in Dublin, and it was quite upsetting for them that all of this was happening abroad. They gathered in her grandparents’ house in Clonmel and “we just sat tight and waited,” she recalled. “We couldn’t just visit him and that provoked an unsettling anxiety in all of us”.

There is a history of heart disease in Mimi’s family. Both her grandads have had heart attacks. Sadly, Mimi’s grandad, who was living with heart failure since his heart attack ten years ago, passed away from heart failure, only two weeks before we spoke, just days after Mimi celebrated her engagement with her fiancé Pete.

Mimi feels that her father “was dealing with a lot of stress” at the time of his heart attack. Life was busy, his business was expanding, and they were renovating their house. Mimi’s younger brothers have since undergone heart examinations, and her mother, already dealing with the aftermath of breast cancer and a surgically induced menopause, is being monitored for heart issues.

Despite his heart failure, her father’s health is improving slowly but the impact has been life changing. John has had a pacemaker and defibrillator fitted, and completed his rehab, but “will never work full-time again”, and the loss of independence has been difficult. “He’s lost an awful lot that brings him so much joy, but I’ve honestly never seen a braver man with it”. Mimi describes him as so positive, using humour to cope and support his family through the ordeal.

Now mourning the loss of his father in the past few weeks, John’s stress levels are of most concern. “We’ve all come together to try and support Dad as much as possible. We’re all mourning, but we’re holding on to each other for strength and doing our best. This experience has taught me that stress affects us more than we realise, and minding your heart, physically and emotionally, has never been more important. If there’s one thing I can say, it’s this — don’t wait. Take care of your heart and your loved ones while you can.”

Mimi found signing up to run the Dublin marathon for the Irish Heart Foundation was simple. She completed the form online and was quickly contacted by the Irish Heart Foundation team, who helped her through the process – “you made it really easy”. Mimi has felt “supported every step of the way, which is great because I didn’t expect or ask for that. I received friendly, fun emails every couple of weeks that kept me going,” she said. Training has been hard, especially with the loss of her grandad so recently – on the day she was supposed to do her last long run. “The Irish Heart Foundation was brilliant though. It’s hard to get out some days. They reminded me I wasn’t alone.”

She was delighted to receive her Irish Heart Foundation singlet with her name on it and wearing it on training runs helped boost donations on social media. “People respond to visuals,” she explained. “The day I wore the T-shirt, and shared it on my Instagram story, was the day I got the most donations.” She was really looking forward to running in the marathon, and felt ready for it. “I just want to finish proud and happy. For me it’s not about the time, it’s about the fact that I’m running it, partaking, staying fit, but mostly for a cause that’s close to home but so much bigger than me.”

Mimi ran not just for her dad and granddad, but for every family who might think heart disease won’t affect them. “You never think it’ll happen to your family,” she said. “But it can, and it does, even at a younger age. Don’t put it off. Go get checked.”

Mimi finished the 2025 Dublin City Marathon proudly, with her family dotted around the last 15KM to get her through, in a time of 4 hours 7 minutes 12 seconds.