Heart Ambassadors – 100 people who can run a marathon after being treated for heart ailments

Asian Heart Institute, medical partner to The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon for the eleventh consecutive year showcased its 100 member Fit2Run Hearts a community of individuals who've benefit

By: Editorial Team | | Published: January 8, 2014 2:32 pm

Tags: In the news Marathon Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon

Asian Heart Institute, medical partner to The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon for the eleventh consecutive year showcased its 100 member Fit2Run Hearts a community of individuals who’ve benefitted immensely from Asian Hearts’ Preventive Cardiology & Cardiac Rehab, after being treated for various heart ailments, here in Mumbai today, at Bandra Kurla Complex. Also Read - Ganesh Chaturthi 2020: 4 reasons an eco-friendly Ganesha is good for you

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Individually called Heart Ambassadors, the Fit2Run team comprises recovered cardiac patients, who are running the marathon-after angioplasty, bypass with multiple grafts or even pure medical management via cardiac rehabilitation. From age 25 to 85, these runners are an example for the rest of the city and country- as evangelists of healthy hearts, and will reach out to other cardiac patients across the country as torchbearers of hope, faith and discipline. Also Read - 200 women ran to spread awareness regarding health and fitness

Speaking to his braveheart cardiac patients turned marathon runner team, Dr. Ramakanta Panda, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Asian Heart Institute proudly shared, ‘Life does not end at being diagnosed with a heart disease. Rather, it marks the beginning of a fitter and better life.’ (Read: Expert tips to prevent heart disease)

Its interesting to note that probably for the first time in the history of marathon, the pacers (the expert runners/leaders who set the pace for the rest of the runners) themselves are past heart patients-.

On a lighter note, Dr.Panda added that his ‘Heart Ambassadors’ were fitter than him and he was going to stay far away from them.

Renowned journalist and marathoner, Kumar Ketkar humbly admitted, ‘I’m proud as well as embarrassed to admit that, not only would I never go to any gym, but I would mock those who would. I was accidentally detected with four blockages. It was during a routine check-up that our office organizes that there were problems in my ECG. I just happened to mention of it to Dr Panda who I knew. There were no obvious signs of tiredness or exhaustion as such. But when Dr Panda saw my case, he got me admitted immediately and within two days I was operated on. My personal message to everyone is: There are these fears of heart ailments; about running for the marathon, about many other issues, but those fears are completely baseless. It is essentially a reflection of a lazy mind and an indifferent approach towards one’s own health. This marathon and Asian Heart Centre’s cardiac rehab encourages everyone to lead a happy and positive life.

Dr. Aashish Contractor, the HOD for Preventive Cardiology & Cardiac Rehab, shared the statistics. ‘This is the largest contingency of runners we’ve had so far. A total of 100! 26 of them are doing the half marathon; 13 running for the first time, and one full marathoner. Our ‘Heart Ambassadors’ all gung ho about running the marathon.’

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Published : January 8, 2014 2:32 pm

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