Miss NI finalist plays her part in raising £73,000 to support the fight against heart disease

Gaby was determined to take part in the annual event, which raised £73,000 for the charity, following the death of her father last year.

“I decided to take part with my mummy Joanne and my sister Janine in memory of my daddy,” explained Gaby.

"He passed away last year at just 50 years old from a heart related condition.

“I was living in Spain at the time and mummy phoned one morning to say daddy thought he was having a heart attack. He wasn't sure as he didn’t really know what the signs were.

"He had a very sore arm and after a lot of convincing from mummy he finally went to the hospital. They confirmed he had had a heart attack and said he would need triple bypass surgery. He couldn't leave the hospital before the operation. There was a six-week waiting list but after four weeks at Lagan Valley Hospital he had another heart attack.

“I then came home from Spain and daddy suffered a further heart attack. The doctors said they couldn’t wait any longer, the bypass surgery was now not an option, and they would have to put stents in right away.

"Daddy had the stents surgery and two days later he was allowed home. He was glad to get back to some sort of normality after so many weeks in hospital. Tragically, he passed away the next day.”