Pair’s running mission comes from the heart
The sudden loss of a loved one and the understanding that life is fragile is propelling two women to run a charity half marathon.
Celine Dufour and Katherine Campbell-Hunt were bound by tragedy in 2008 when Dufour’s brother and Campbell-Hunt’s boyfriend, Jean-Philippe (JP) Dufour, died at 17 from an undiagnosed heart condition.
He had been playing football in his hometown of Dunedin when he told a friend he was getting a “weird” chest pain, before collapsing.
An autopsy revealed he had cardiomyopathy — a disease which weakens the heart muscle and can cause it to fail.
Recalling doctors trying to save her younger brother, just 18 months after the pair’s father died suddenly from a heart attack, Dufour says she’s learned to treasure life.
She began running as a way to clear her head. “JP really stepped up when my dad passed away, even though he was the youngest. He was the stronghold of the family.”
Campbell-Hunt met “kind and charismatic” JP at high hits, says Dr Fraser Hamilton of the Heart Foundation.
It’s a general term referring to various heart diseases that affect the heart muscle and can lead to sudden death. school and the pair were friends before becoming a couple.
“I go through my phases of life like university, going on an OE, starting a job, if there is any how many people are affected.”
He says anyone with a change in fitness, breathing, chest pains or palpitations should get checked. big milestone it brings back the thought of him and how sad it is he is missing out.”
But tragedy didn’t end there. Four months after JP’s death, Campbell-Hunt’s mother, Diane, a leader in her field of ecology and botany, drowned on a tramping trip in Egmont National Park.
Campbell-Hunt says the two deaths made her aware of how fragile life is.
“Then there is the other side, you don’t want to take anything, or anyone, for granted and you want to appreciate the time you have.”
Dufour and Campbell-Hunt are joining this month to run the ASB Auckland half marathon for the Heart Foundation, to raise funds for heart research.
JP was otherwise healthy, and his sister says had his heart condition been diagnosed he could still be alive today.
Cardiomyopathy is hereditary and Dufour says a close relative had been diagnosed with it and had a successful heart transplant. “I guess the point of sharing this story is to help prevent other families going through the same thing.”
Runners sign up for the October 29 marathon in Auckland by emailing events@heart foundation.org.nz. Funds raised will go to heart research and supporting for sufferers.
Donations can be made to Katherine and Celine’s fundraising effort online at tinyurl.com/ ybbtcoea.