Click to play videoMumbai: A group of senior citizens who have undergone bypass heart surgeries will run in a marathon in Mumbai on January 16.
It's shorts, sports shoes, spirit and game faces on for the enthusiastic senior citizens. 75 bypass heart surgery patients from the Asian Heart Institute's Cardiac rehab centre will be running with one common goal.
A bypass patient Jatin Parikh said, "This marathon is not about competing against someone, it's about competing your own past."
After bypass surgery, a marathon is never just a race In some ways, it's racing against the memory, the trauma of a near death experience. Running the 42 km full marathon will be a life-changer, says 53 year old Jatin who ran a half marathon within a year of his bypass surgery. It's not like they're born runners either, not even 60-year-old Shailesh, who has run four marathons.
Shailesh Patel, another bypass patient says, "The first time I thought, will I be able to complete 21 kms? No way! But after practice, yes, you can. Initially I couldn't run 200meters also as whole my life I've never run! But gradually, because of practise, I can run continuously for 21 kms without taking a walking break."
What backs these results are doctor Contractor's intense, fully monitored training sessions
Dr Ashish Contractor, Head of Department, Preventive Cardiology & Rehab, Asian Heart Institute says, "The main message is that life doesn't end with heart disease. Infact it begins with heart disease as you're getting a new opportunity, a new beginning to lead healthier lives. We hope that these gentlemen inspire the rest of society to get more active, to get more fit to control heart disease."
As they say, the will to win means nothing if you don't have the will to prepare.
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