A NORTH Berwick lifeboat crew member had his own life saved by the RNLI – but on land, not at sea.

And his wife is now running 100 kilometres throughout October to raise funds for the charity.

Dad-of-two Simon Cowan, 50, a crew member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for 10 years, had been receiving routine medical check-ups through the charity every two years since the age of 45.

But a medical examination in June last year uncovered a heart murmur, which led to Simon being referred for an echocardiogram at East Lothian Community Hospital – and then, in October, major open heart surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

Wife Lizzie, 44, told the Courier: “At Lauderdale Practice in Dunbar he was checked by Dr Black.He didn’t like the sound of Simon’s heart, and said that he should speak to his GP about it.

“By the time he got an appointment with the doctor and the doctor had referred him for a proper scan, it was September. And I think the person scanning him got the fright of her life.”

The echocardiogram found that Simon had a congenital heart condition – he had inherited a bicuspid aortic valve, which meant his aortic valve had only two ‘leaflets’ instead of three. This resulted in blood flowing back into Simon’s heart, forming an aortic aneurysm more than 8cm in diameter.

Lizzie, a marketing and communications officer at National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Ordinarily, with the heart condition that he had, you would perhaps know that you have that condition.

“Your heart works, but eventually you might have some side effects and, in his case, blood had begun to regurgitate quite heavily into his heart but he didn’t know about it.

“Normally, the surgeon said to us that at about 5cm dilation, so when the aorta is pumped up to 5cm, they need to operate. And when Simon had his scan, they were looking at an aorta that was 8-9cm dilated.”

Simon, who is also project manager for an e-learning company, underwent emergency open heart surgery, receiving several blood transfusions in the process and remaining in hospital when he contracted a chest infection.

He has spent most of this year recovering but has returned to sailing and to the lifeboat crew, having passed his medical.

And now Lizzie, a member of North Berwick Rowing Club, has taken on the challenge to run 100k throughout October to raise funds for the RNLI. The family live on North Berwick’s Brodie Avenue.

She said: “I hate running so much! I could have borrowed a rowing machine and rowed every day, because I like rowing. But that’s not the point – it’s got to be a challenge, it’s got to be something I wouldn’t have ordinarily done. I’ve got to dig deep to run anywhere.”

Lizzie has only been running since August, having completed the Couch to 5k challenge and also the cancelled Law Run. She has now pledged to complete 10 5k runs, five 10k runs and a half marathon.

She said: “Simon’s my solid motivation; when I’m running and thinking I’m so tired, I think of Simon’s strength, his stubbornness to survive and recover.

“The point is to raise awareness about the amazing work the RNLI do; but also because it has been so difficult this year for them, they’ve not been able to do any of their events and their income is falling.

“And funds go towards all the amazing training that they have… all these young people come onto the lifeboats and get life skills.

“They get CPR training, medical training but also they are looked after by the RNLI. Their lives need to be looked after so they can go out and save other people’s lives.”

Donate at justgiving.com/fundraising/lizzie-cowan