Geoffrey Donohoe was a fit runner who had done several marathons, he ate a lot of junk food and consumed energy drinks and diet coke, but he said, “I used to think I could run off a bad diet.”
But, as Geoffrey tells Irish Radio host Gerry Byrne in this touching interview, he found that his optimism was misplaced. At only 37 years old Geoff suffered a heart attack that occurred while he was running Birmingham marathon.
Geoffrey is second generation Irish, his parents come from Kerry and Mayo, and he has other members of his family who have experienced heart health problems.
So although Geoffrey was a runner and trained regularly, his poor diet of soft drinks, energy drinks, coffee and take away meals had a serious impact on his health.
Valerie Nangle, who is one of the Green Hearts volunteer team and is also Irish, was his rehab nurse. He attributes much of his recovery to Valerie, she helped him implement new lifestyle habits and even helped him regain his confidence in himself.
Geoffrey is now back regularly running marathons.
Moral of the story, you can’t out train a bad diet!!
If you would like to find out more about maintaining heart health, or why it is an important issue for the Irish community in Britain, go to the Green Hearts Campaign page on the Irish in Britain website. Contact Marie Dillon if you would like to organise a blood pressure screening for your organisation or workplace.
Running 10K for £10K
The Green Hearts campaign has a team of 14 runners doing the 10K in Kew Gardens in September to raise vital funds funds for the campaign, please support them!