A BSc (Hons) Care and Wellbeing student at Afan College, Claire Llewellyn, has been recognised for her powerful and deeply personal contribution to public health awareness, after writing an article for Public Health Network Cymru based on her first-hand experience of living with hypertension.
Claire, who is currently completing the final year of her degree, has turned a life-changing health event into a message of hope, education and prevention for others. Her determination to use her voice and lived experience to protect others has already made a significant impact, with her work recognised by Public Health Wales and shared across professional networks.
Claire said: “In 2019, the silent killer knocked on my door – hypertension. After years of being at home and feeling depressed, I decided to return to college. I completed Levels 4 and 5, and now I am studying Level 6 in Health and Wellbeing for adults and young people. This gave me the opportunity to use my lived experience in a meaningful way. It even encouraged my lecturer, Sharon, to take her medication, and helped people of all ages start paying attention to the message.
“My campaign, created with my classmate Rachael, became ‘The Silent Killer’, and that is where everything began. ‘Silent Killer: My Story’ is a short awareness film about hypertension and the devastating consequences of not taking prescribed medication. The film shares my personal experience of being diagnosed with high blood pressure, feeling well, and not realising the serious risks involved. Hypertension is often symptom-free, which can lead people to underestimate its danger. In my case, this resulted in a brain haemorrhage, permanent brain damage and epilepsy.
“This project is important because it puts a real face to an invisible condition and highlights how a simple daily tablet can prevent life-changing outcomes. My film is a personal, first-hand account of living with untreated hypertension and its long-term impact. I am so thankful to everyone who has supported me on this journey, especially Public Health Wales. If I can save even one person from going through the heartbreak my family faced, then I feel I have made a real difference in society.”
You can read Claire’s full article on page 15 of the February 2026 Public Health Network Cymru E-Bulletin – “Ways of working: an opportunity to share any tools, frameworks or approaches which help you with your work.”
