Brush with death gives chef a mission

HEART OF THE KITCHEN: Sean Wakelin (centre) at Volcanic Kitchen with workmates Vicky Gill (left) and Paul King.

A brush with death has driven Sean Wakelin to reach out to others who suffer heart problems.

The chef and restaurateur from Taupo almost died in January after his body was attacked by an unknown virus, possibly Legionnaire's disease.

Doctors believe he picked it up by handling dry compost without using gloves or a dust mask.

With the help of Rotorua Hospital, Mr Wakelin pulled through - but it was a close thing and his heart has been left damaged. It is only pumping at 25 per cent efficiency in his left ventricle, which it should be pumping between 55 and 75 per cent.

The father-of-two this week received a state-of-the-art subcutaneous implantable defibrillator, a device which sits in a pouch of skin under his arm with a 14cm long electrode that will administer a shock to his heart if it goes into arrythmia.

The health scare left the 45-year-old considering what was most important in his life. One of the conclusions he has come to is that it is time to try to help other heart patients.

So until tomorrow, he is helping raise money for the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge's official charity - Heart Kids - at his Taupo business, Volcanic Kitchen, and he hopes to also be at the challenge supporting Heart Kids today.

To support Heart Kids, customers can add a dollar donation when they pay, and the business will match all donations dollar for dollar.

With a busy weekend expected, Mr Wakelin's hoping to raise a good-sized sum for Heart Kids, a charity that is now extra-special to him.

"If you're affected by something there's certainly no excuses to not give back and having young kids myself, I'm thankful that there's nothing wrong with them," he said.

One of the decisions Mr Wakelin came to after his health scare was that he wanted to concentrate on what was important in his life. That means more time with wife Rachel and two preschool children. He also resigned from his job as restaurant manager at Cobb & Co Taupo to restart his previous pizza and gourmet burger business, Volcanic Kitchen.

"A lot of people say opening a restaurant must be stressful but it's not because I'm in control," he said. "The kitchen is my zen spot. I just love it because

" I'm very passionate so I'm actually happy working for myself.

"I have a great team around me. They're a lot of support and I know that while I'm off recovering from the operation, they're here."

He said although his heart was not what it was, he is well enough to work and grateful to still be around for his children.

"I want to be around to nag them to clean their rooms and mow the lawns and pick up after themselves ... you start to realise what's important in life."