Inspiration

Our big-hearted fundraisers

Our incredible big-hearted fundraisers below share their stories and inspiration to help you on your own fundraising journey.

"That's how we row" - Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor is blind, can barely walk and has lost a portion of strength in his right arm, but despite this, he achieved his target, of rowing for eight hours, raising more than $100,000 dollars for the Heart Foundation on a custom-built rower at Auckland Rowing Club in November 2020.

"My family and friends have been impacted by heart disease and the health of our heart is something that we all need to take more seriously, that's why I came up with the idea of the challenge," says Mark.

More than 100 people turned up to row by Mark's side on the day, and Olympic Gold Medallist Eric Murray, company Dempsey Wood, gym SMASH FIT and Auckland Rowing Club all got behind his cause.

Sunny's second chance at life

Following a heart attack and bypass surgery , Sunny Naido took control of his life by progressing from long-distance walks to jogging in the local park. Before long he was doing 10 laps of the football field and from there he started running on the road. “I’d never run in my life before – I’d never even exercised – but I was feeling great.”

One year after having his heart attack, Sunny entered the 8km Auckland Round the Bays race. Since then Sunny has completed 10 Round the Bays events and he’s also a proud member of the Heart Foundation’s Heart Racer Team for the ASB Auckland Marathon where he has run in 2 marathons and has raised over $5,000 for the Heart Foundation.

Heart Hikoi- John Stewart

In 2019, John Stewart suffered a cardiac arrest. He had no pulse for 24 minutes. “I was lucky. The quick actions of my wife and daughter, the fast response of fire and ambulance and the fantastic team at Wellington Hospital saved me”.

For his healing and an opportunity to give back and raise money for heart health research, last October, John started the 3000 km journey from Cape Reinga to Bluff which he completed in March 2021 raising over $3,500 for the Heart Foundation.

Khan took on a challenge close to his heart

Not many people have what it takes to take on a grueling marathon, but Khan Beyer has more reasons than most, and it’s one that’s close to his heart.

Khan chose to run for the Heart Foundation in the 2021 Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon because his grandfather passed after suffering multiple cardiac events. However, in the lead up to the upcoming marathon, tragedy struck again. “My work colleague, Damian, who was 55 at the time, had been feeling unwell and scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist for the following week,” he said, but just days before, he was found unresponsive at work after a heart attack.”

Khan has raised over $12,000 thanks to the kindness of loved ones and a generous donation from his workplace.

“I just want to raise as many funds as possible and hope that it will make some sort of difference to the heart health of New Zealanders,”

Cycling with heart - Kiri Barfoot

Kiri Barfoot was part of the incredible Meadowbank Cycling team who showed their big hearts by cycling over 500kms across our beautiful country. Starting on 10 April, Kiri, along with 61 enthusiastic Heart Foundation riders, rode for a total of eight days on some of New Zealand’s most scenic roads. Riding across the breath-taking South Island from Glenorchy to Blenheim, they crossed over from Picton for the final day in Wellington.

Kiri and her Meadowbank team mates raised a combined team total of over $46,000. Individually, Kiri was our top fundraiser, raising an incredible $7,800. It’s people like Kiri and the Meadowbank Cycling team that help fund life-saving heart research to help the 170,000 New Zealanders living with heart disease.