Ride good medicine for a hole in the heart
PETE McNally and Jeremy Scott had never met before the Cairns Cardiac Challenge, but have taken similar journeys in life due to their shared condition – a hole in the heart.
Mr McNally, 68, helped establish the ride 12 years ago, shortly after the patch operation for his congenital heart defect.
“There was a lady I was riding with whose husband had a hole in the heart and I’d just had the surgery for mine the year before,” he said.
“They’d just bituminised the road to Cooktown and we decided to start a charity ride for cardiac services.
“We went and saw the (FNQ Hospital) Foundation, we went and did the ride and now it’s far exceeded anything we thought.”
Mr Scott, 45, will be taking part in the challenge for the first time this year.
Four years ago, he rode 52,000km around the world, cycling from London to New Zealand.
“I felt like I needed to do something that would give purpose to my life,” he said.
“I had the operation for my hole in the heart when I was four. The doctors had waited until then to see if my strength would improve but it hadn’t.
“Once I had the surgery I was able to do what the other
kids were doing and that helped develop a lot of grit.”
Since completing his twoand-a-half year ride, he has gone on the speaking circuit and written a book The Long Road from a Broken Heart.
Mr McNally said he would like to one day follow a similar path advocating for those with heart defects. According to Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, about one in every 100 children is born with a congenital heart defect.
This morning, 244 riders will set off on the Cardiac Challenge from Smithfield.
The event has raised $36 million in total.
This year’s fundraising goal is $200,000.