Ex-Olympic Athlete Lends Support To Walk A Mile
Former international athlete Roger Black MBE may have officially hung up his running spikes but he's been quick to spur on Wessex Heartbeat in their fundraising event on Sunday March 8th.
"Walk A Mile" has been organised by the charity to raise awareness of heart conditions.
Wessex Heartbeat patron, Roger, a 400-metre silver medallist at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, has first-hand experience of what it's like to live with a heart condition. During a school medical at the age of 11 he was diagnosed with a faulty heart valve and he still has annual appointments with specialists at the Wessex Cardiac Centre at Southampton General Hospital.
However he triumphed over adversity to represent Great Britain at the highest level of athletics for more than a decade - winning 15 major Championship medals including European, Commonwealth and World Championship Gold medals.
Roger, who is now a television presenter and an accomplished motivational speaker and conference host, said: "I am always aware of my heart condition and conscious of how it has to be respected. I have great empathy with people who suffer with cardiac conditions. I wish Walk A Mile the very best of success."
The 42-year-old Portsmouth-born athlete who read medicine at Southampton University, paid tribute to the work of the Wessex Cardiac Centre. "I have experienced first-hand the excellent care and support that the Wessex Cardiac Centre provides for many people in the region with heart conditions."
He added that he realised that one day he may have to undergo a valve replacement, but he was also pragmatic in his approach to life and hadn't let it weigh him down or prevent him from striving to reach his potential.
Walk A Mile takes place on Sunday March 8 at 10.30 a.m starting from the Holiday Inn, nr Town Quay. The event is free to enter and participants are asked to walk in someone else's shoes or different shoes. Prizes, which have been donated by the Holiday Inn, will be awarded to the most innovative interpretation of "walking in somebody else's shoes."
For more information please contact Wessex Heartbeat's Events Co-ordinator, Tina Richardson on 023 8079 5928.
