A bike trip with a heart
After former heart kid Greg McAllister completed a 3000km cycle down the length of the country, two 8-year-old Marton girls were inspired to do something similar.
Starting on Monday and finishing on Friday, twins Lexi and Skylar Clayton will attempt all 152 kilometres of the Otago Central Rail Trail over the course of a week to raise money for the Heart Kids NZ charity.
Accompanied by their parents Maria and Daniel, cousin Zierra, and their grandmother Ruth, they started with a target of $10 per kilometre with a goal of reaching $1500.
So far, they’ve reached over half their target before covering the first kilometre, with donations at almost $1000.
Maria said the trip came after the girls discovered a love for longdistance cycling.
‘‘Earlier this year, Mum [Ruth] took them on the Remutaka Rail Trail and they just fell in love with it,’’ said Maria.
‘‘They camped out for two nights, they carried all their own gear, and they’ve been talking about it ever since. So we thought it’d be a great way for them to do what Greg did and incentivise them to support a good cause.’’
Heart Kids NZ supports children with congenital heart disease (CHD) – a genetic condition that causes defects in the structure of the heart – and acquired heart conditions.
CHD affects almost 50 million people worldwide and is usually remedied by open-heart surgery, the use of a pacemaker, or, in extreme cases, a heart transplant.
The Clayton and Gorinski families were very familiar with the condition.
Maria had used a pacemaker since she was 21 and their cousin Zierra Gorinski had undergone open-heart surgery as well.
Grandmother Dr Ruth Gorinski was the chief executive of Heart Kids and accompanied Greg on his cycle along the Manawatū River.
Maria described her own journey with the condition.
‘‘Throughout my teens, I was progressively starting to faint more often until it got to the point where I just could not function normally,’’ she said.
‘‘I had no energy, I was pretty couch ridden, and normal things like going to the letterbox at the end of the road were impossible.
‘‘Getting my diagnosis at 21 and my pacemaker gave me my life back.’’
Now 34, Maria has had a pacemaker for 13 years and, while her heart condition becomes noticeable during stress or illness, she leads a normal life.
With the trip just days away, she said her daughters understood her condition.
‘‘They know that mum’s got a pacemaker and that mum gets sick.
‘‘And they know that their cousin has had surgery, they’ve seen her little scar.’’
Ruth said Heart Kids had resources to help instil that understanding.
‘‘I find when I go around the country that kids do have an elementary understanding.
‘‘We’ve got some pretty good books and videos that they’ve been showing their classmates and the support they’ve got from the community has been wonderful.
‘‘We’re hoping we can get a little more because for two 8-year-old girls, the trip is a huge undertaking.’’
Donations can be made to Lexi and Skyler’s cause at www.helpingheartkids.org. nz/152kmforheartkids.