About

In August, we are travelling to Quito, Ecuador to embark on a cycle across South America to raise money and awareness for the charity Pace4Life. The girls are stopping at Lima and the boys are carrying on down to Ushuaia, Argentina. Pace4Life is an organisation that developed out of an idea to try and recycle pacemakers. Pacemakers are devices that replace the natural wiring of the heart when it has worn out. As the wiring starts to wear out, the heart can beat slowly and eventually stops beating at all without treatment. By inserting a pacemaker, the device takes over and performs this function instead. It is a life saving treatment, but the devices cost 5000 - 50,000 depending on the type, well out of the budgets of many in low and middle income countries. About 350,000 people in the UK have pacemakers. When people die many people choose to be cremated. These devices have to be taken out of the body because otherwise they can damage the cremation facilities. If a patient or their relatives consent, they can be cleaned, sterilised and re-implanted in someone in the developing world. We are trying to get the devices imported into the countries that we cycle through. This way, individuals of health systems do not have to pay for them. Bit of a grim thought, but a simple solution eh? Check out our website at www.cyclingsouthamerica.com for more information on the cycle and Pace4Life. 100% of donations go to Pace4Life.