A WOMAN with a passion for dogs has vowed to carry on fund-raising despite suffering a terrifying heart attack. Fifty-three-year-old Karen Rogers, of Great Fen Road, Soham, has spent the last eight years raising money and collecting blankets for the Dogs

A WOMAN with a passion for dogs has vowed to carry on fund-raising despite suffering a terrifying heart attack.

Fifty-three-year-old Karen Rogers, of Great Fen Road, Soham, has spent the last eight years raising money and collecting blankets for the Dogs Trust.

However, her vital work was put on hold when she fell ill, shortly after this photograph was taken by the Ely Standard.

She said: "It came completely out of the blue. I was sitting at the computer when all of a sudden I had a sharp pain in my chest. I hadn't eaten so I knew it was anything like indigestion. Then I started hyperventilating. Luckily my husband and son were with me and they called for an ambulance."

She explained that the paramedics didn't think it was a cardiac problem, but blood tests showed she had suffered a "silent" heart attack.

She said: "The doctor said it hadn't shown up on the ECG but my blood tests confirmed it was a heart attack. I'm on the mend now and I will carry on fund-raising irrespective of this. Nothing on this earth will stop me."

Mrs Rogers, who lives with husband Colin, 65, and son James, 30, adopted her first dog - a border collie spaniel cross called Sky - in 2001. Three years later, they adopted Mork, a Siberian husky German Shepherd cross.

She said: "They are adorable and so loving."

INFO: If you would like to help Karen raise funds for the Dogs Trust, call her on 01353 725765.

Pic cap: 3884HD0709. Karen Rogers has vowed to carry on fund-raising for the Dogs Trust.

Photo: HELEN DRAKE