Derek Haines covers 2,000 miles for charity in 2016
Past Rotary presidents Derek Haines (left) and Brian Hurley with two Bolivian children who underwent successful heart surgery
(CNS Local Life): Derek Haines has run more than 2,000 miles over 2016 as part of his participation in the “Mountains and Marathons” challenge on behalf of the Have a Heart charity which sponsors heart surgery for children in need. Over the year, 148 children received life-saving/changing surgery at Health City Cayman Islands. Another three have been assessed but did not require such urgent treatment, four are from Cayman and the rest from the Caribbean, Central and South America, and other parts of the world.
Calling the tasks he set for 2016 “challenging”, Haines said he was grateful to the other athletes who took part — Rotarian Chris Bailey (Ironman in the US), Shane Delaney (Ironman, Barcelona), and Vico Testori and Barry Yetton (who joined Haines on the three peaks in Bolivia). These tasks were in addition to the two marathons and 50K ‘Off the Beaten Track’ race that Haines completed.
Other strong Rotarian support came from Chris Johnson, Brian Hurley, Lissette Anez, Tim Bradley and Marcos Montana, he said.
“When one considers that it takes on average over $10,000 per child the response from Cayman has been tremendous and from our club membership outstanding with donations of over $160,000, directly or indirectly, to the funds,” Haines said.
He added he was grateful to Governor and honourary Rotarian Helen Kilpatrick for her continued patronage, and thanked everyone for their support and encouragement, adding, “At this time of year there can be no greater present than helping to give the gift of life and you have certainly been instrumental in providing that to these children in desperate need.”
Category: Donations, Running, Service Organisations
