Dan Schatz's Fundraising Page

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.

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 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, lack of physical activity and being a smoker.

But the good news is that many risk factors for heart disease are preventable, if people make healthy lifestyle choices.

I’ve signed up as a Heart Racer to raise money to support The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand. 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, please help by making any sort of donation.

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.

So please help me today! And pass it on to everyone you know!

As you all know these numbers do not just apply to New Zealand. This is a prominent issue in the States as well. It is so common that I would bet that you are close to someone who was inflicted with such diseases, I know I was. So please help me make my first marathon run mean something to more than just me. If even just a few dollars or some change per kilometer (I am running 21 km or 13 miles) would be beneficial. I believe in this cause and hopefully will be helping fight it in a more direct cause in my future!

Thank you so much for the support!