'Ironman 4 Your Heart'

Congratulations on taking another step closer to making a difference, and thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

At the age of 33 I have entered Ironman NZ, this will be my first Ironman. You are probably thinking "are you mad" and I must say, you do have good cause but believe me the decision was not made lightly. My decision to become a heart racer was a much easier one to make.

My story began well before I was born, when my grandfather on my dads side passed away suddenly of a heart related illness in his early 40's. At the age of 13 I watched my father die suddenly of heart failure, he was 41, then my Aunty (dads sister) also passed away in her 40's from the same thing.
I guess you could say that I have been closely effected by the affects of cardiovascular disease.

In Dec 2002 I met my wife Jo and I weighed in at 116kg (must have been my personality) Being out of shape was largely due to giving up smoking, after more than 10 years, 18 months earlier, and of course had nothing to do with my shocking diet, Yeah right!! I was in a bad place physically, especially for someone with my family history, and I was starting to get worried, I knew that something had to be done.

Over the next year, I lost 30kg and started to fit into clothes that I hadn't been able to fit for years (styles hadn't changed that much… sure). More importantly I gained more zest for life and became more and more active, which of course has led me to take up the Ironman challenge.

Jo and I have recently had our first child, a beautiful daughter Stella. She has made me realise how much I have to live for and has made me even more determined not to become another Heart disease statistic, and if I can inspire even just one person to make a change for better heart health then it will all be worthwhile.

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.

So, help me as I join the race to beat heart disease.

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 Ironman NZ), but I really need you to make a difference to the hearts of New Zealanders.

So, please could you sponsor me?

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

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

Many thanks for your support

Regards
Matt