Former Paralympian Lisa Pudner has paid one of the strongest tributes possible to her Ammanford friend who died suddenly of a heart attack last October.

As the rest of the country shielded itself from the worst weather conditions in recent years, Lisa tackled the 70mph winds of Storm Franklin to complete a 10-mile walk and hand-bike fundraising challenge.

The gruelling hike took in a loop of North Dock, Llanelli to Burry Port and as a result of her incredible achievement, Lisa has raised over £2,000 to fund British Heart Foundation’s research unit.

Lisa was supported on the challenge by friends and family of much-loved Nest Davies from Capel Hendre, Ammanford.

“I first met Nest in 1986 when we worked together at the path lab reception in Glangwili Hospital,” said Lisa.

“We were best friends and she supported me when I was fundraising to get to the Sydney Paralympics in 2000.”

As a result of her efforts Lisa, who’s 56 and has spina bifida, was recently awarded a Medal of Thanks by BHF Cymru at a presentation evening at the Machynys Golf Club.

“I am delighted with the amount raised in Nest’s memory, because she was a wonderful friend, who supported me so much through the years,” added Lisa.

“We did this for the BHF because they fund research into heart conditions, and we want to stop other families and friends losing loved ones in the future.

"I would also like to thank all the support I have received from friends, family and the local community, everyone has been so generous.”

Around 340,000 people in Wales are living with the daily burden of heart and circulatory diseases and dozens of families will lose loved ones to devastating heart diseases.

The BHF urgently needs the public’s support to keep its life saving research going, and to discover the treatments and cures of the future, turning science fiction into reality.

In the last five years [2016-2021], BHF Cymru has funded £9.5m worth of research in Wales, supporting the work of 64 researcher staff.

You can still donate to Lisa’s JustGiving fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lisa-pudner