Runner dedicates race to his donor

Patrick Hooper, 49, feels lucky to be alive. PHOTO / PAUL TAYLOR

When Napier man Patrick Hooper tackles the IronMaori half-Ironman race tomorrow, he will be dedicating it to the person who gave him the chance - with a new heart.

"I'm lucky to be here," says the 49-year-old, who received a replacement heart in a transplant operation more than five years ago.

He is happy to make the start-line but now he has every intention of finishing the gruelling 2km swim, 21.1km run and 90km bike ride, whatever it takes.

"The time doesn't matter," he said yesterday, as he set off to walk part of the course around the Pandora Pond and Ahuriri Estuary, part of the daily training he has been at for years since setting his sights on IronMaori.

It is almost with disbelief he recalls the old days, when time itself did not matter, when the couch and TV, getting on the beers after the game and smoking were much more appealing options. "This - cycling, running just wasn't me," he says.

The "journey" to a new lifestyle started in July 2008, when he was admitted to Hawke's Bay Hospital dizzy, weakening in one arm, slurred speech and pain in the heart.

Diagnosed with a stroke, a cardiologist discovered in further tests a blood clot in his heart and that his heart was enlarged. He was sent to Auckland for a triple bypass, but about to go into theatre after two weeks preparing and waiting, he and partner Brenda were told it was off.

"I would not have survived the operation," he told Hawke's Bay Today.

"Feeling distraught with the news, we were then introduced to a heart transplant specialist," he said. "We hear of these things in books, and watch them on a movie, but never, ever thought we would have to go down that road."

Numerous tests followed, including sessions with psychologists and psychiatrists, to make sure he and the family were ready. They also grappled with the cultural issue of how it matched with the tikanga of his Maori heritage.

It was March 29, 2009, when the call came that a compatible heart was available, and the decision had to be made.

"Fear was with us all the way. There was a lot of prepping, prodding, talking, crying ... but most of all, we knew we were to receive a gift of life."

The surgery went well and within three days he was walking and exercising. "Amazing surgeons, amazing hospital staff," he says, still shaking his head in disbelief. Two months into his recovery, he went through a severe case of shingles and nerve damage, which has affected him ever since.

He joined Napier Maori health and social services provider Te Kupenga Hauora to start a programme of exercise and a better lifestyle. Five years later there is a string of marathons and other endurance events, including the separate relay legs for Te Kupenga Hauora in IronMaori over the past three years.

He started with the walk 2011, mentored by Veronica Young, did the swim in 2012 trained by Ian Matehe, and last tackled the bike ride, trained by Ginger Te Kuru, who has managed the build-up to tomorrow's challenge, starting at dawn. That's when he gets to pay homage to all those who have helped, including the heart donor.