Walking my heart out.

Me and my darling poppa, whose heart troubles took him from us way too soon.

My beloved grandad, who almost died of a heart attack in his fifties.

Me, with a burger the size of my head. Oh dear.

Each day 16 New Zealanders die as a result of coronary heart disease. That's one person every 90 minutes. And many of these deaths are premature and preventable.

Cardiovascular disease (heart, stroke & blood vessel disease) is the single leading cause of death in New Zealand. It causes 40 percent of all deaths annually in our country - making it more deadly than all forms of cancer. Both of my grandfathers were plagued with heart problems, so I have seen the effects it can have: in my Poppa's case, the worst imaginable.

The nature of who is affected by it is changing. New research shows that young adults in their 20s and 30s are being admitted to hospital for heart attacks more than ever before, and that this age group is dying at a faster rate than people of the same age in previous generations. Much of this change is due to unhealthy lifestyles - poor eating habits and a lack of physical activity. Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a lazy slob who eats terribly - things are not looking good.

But the good news is that many risk factors for heart disease are preventable, if people make healthy lifestyle choices. So, help me as I join the race to beat heart disease.

In order to help reduce my own risks of heart disease, I'm gonna walk the Round the Bays (running it this time may have the opposite effect on my heart than intended - let's try for next year). In order to help reduce the risk of others, I've signed up as a Heart Racer to raise money to support the Heart Foundation. By donating through my webpage you will be helping the Heart Foundation continue its vital work in research, cardiac rehabilitation, education programmes and resources.

I'll do all the hard work (train for and complete the event), but I really need you to make a difference to the hearts of New Zealanders.

So, fancy sponsoring me in my quest to making a difference for myself, in the hope that it can also help make a difference for others?

Select the "Make a donation" button below. It's simple, fast and totally secure and the money goes directly to the Heart Foundation's bank account. If ten of you get ten friends to give me ten dollars, I'll have reached my target and we'll be a thousand dollars closer to saving lives.

Bonus: if you live in New Zealand your donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be issued.

So please, give whatever you can to give kiwi kids like me a longer, healthier, happier future.