"I don't recommend open heart surgeryit's not a happy thing"
“I’ve dialed 911 because you’re missing part of your heart valve. You’re going to the hospital now,” the doctor told Steven Martin in 2011. Martin had been low on energy and thought maybe it was overtraining or a flu. After being whisked away in an ambulance, he got the diagnosis: endocarditis, a bacterial infection, had eaten through part of his aortic valve. No wonder he was tired.
“I don’t recommend open heart surgery—it’s not a happy thing. It hurt like crazy when I came out,” he recounts after getting a biomechanical valve. Even though he woke up in a fog, he finally felt new zest for the first time in years.
If it wasn’t for his impressive cycling career, he doesn’t know if his body could have handled the surgery or the recovery.
In 2008, he joined the Lapdogs Cycling Club and quickly garnered results in the Ontario Cup race series, eventually moving on to excel at the singlespeed category. In 2011, he was consistently taking Strava koms both in his hometown of Toronto and in France, where he vacationed.
This wasn’t the first time cycling helped save his life. In 2003, he quit smoking and started commuting to work. He lost 70 lb.
He’s quick to point out that cycling doesn’t define him— he’s a dad, husband, lawyer and friend (in no particular order, he adds). But, cycling essentially saved him twice: changing his lifestyle and then helping him recover from a dramatic life-altering open heart surgery.
“I just want people to get out there and ride because in an event like this, if it does come along, you can come through it so much better if you ride,” he says.