Cebu triathlon to raise funds for indigent kids’ heart surgery

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Everything seems normal with Angelo Sequilles, a 5-year-old lively boy with an easy smile. However, 6 months ago, life wasn’t a walk in the park for Sequilles as even the normal activity of playing left him gasping for breath. That’s because Sequilles suffered from Tetralogy of Fallot, a Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), which explains why at age 5, he has the frame of a 2-year-old.

Sequilles, who hails from Dumanjug, a southern town in Cebu, received a new lease on life when he underwent a heart surgery back in October as a beneficiary of the Gift of Life program of the Cebu Rotary Club Foundation, Inc.

Sequilles is not the only indigent kid with that story to tell. Some 18 indigent kids suffering from CHD are currently lined up with the program waiting to get their own surgical treatment, the cost of which ranges from P100,000 to P700,000 per child, certainly an amount that no under-privileged family could afford. 

1st Rotary Corporate Triathlon

The Cebu Rotary Club has come up with a fundraiser to address the medical needs of these children via the 1st Rotary Corporate Triathlon slated for June 11 in Lapu-Lapu City and which aims to raise about P3.5 million.

Current club president Bernard Vonn Sia, a triathlete, assured that all funds raised by the event will be used for the surgery of the 18 kids.

The club is also going all out for the event by tapping the services of the Cornerstone 8080 Events Inc, which is known to come up with quality races, to handle the event.

The race, which is open to all triathletes all over the Philippines, will be an irregular distance triathlon with participants having to conquer a 1.6-kilometer swim in the same area as the swim out of the Ironman 70.3 this August, a 50-kilometer bike route and a 10-kilometer run, all within the city of Lapu-Lapu.

Categories are Elite/Open, Age-Group (male and female division), Relay and the Team Challenge.

Participants for the Team Challenge can either register individually or as a team of 6 members but with only 4 team members’ time to count—particularly 3 male and one female. None of them should also be an elite.

Steffan Maniquis of Cornerstone said that they are flexible about the team challenge registration rate of P20,000 for 6 members. They can either opt to race under the Team Challenge category or race individually.

If they decide to register individually, there will be no extra fee should they decide to also be listed for the Team Challenge.  

Quinito Moras, also of Cornerstone, added that they are targeting the corporates or businesses for this event because the more funds the event brings in, the more kids will get operated on.

Moras added that joining the event could also be a good vehicle for a business’ corporate social responsibility.

“They will not just be racing for themselves but they will be racing for these kids,” Moras said.

Registration fees for other categories are as follows—P4,000 for the individual participant and P8,000 for the relay teams.

Organizers are targeting about 300 participants with 15 relay teams. A top 3 overall male and female winner will be declared, as well as top 3 in the age-group categories, relay and team challenge.

The Cebu Rotary Club will award the Elite category top 3 with P10,000, P7,000 and P3,000, respectively.

For the age-group categories, top 3 winners will get trophies and medals.

Gift of Life Program

The Cebu Rotary Club started their Gift of Life program, currently headed by Edward Tan Ting, about 10 years ago and have so far helped some 40 indigent children undergo surgical treatment. Most of them suffer from the congenital heart defect Tetralogy of Fallot.  

According to Hannah Amora of Let it Echo, the Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common complex CHD. It involves 4 abnormalities occurring together, including a defective septum between the ventricles and narrowing of the pulmonary artery, and accompanied by cyanosis. Kids having these condition often have a blue pallor. 

Let it Echo is a support group for families of children with CHD and which refers a lot of children to the Gift of Life program.

Amora, whose child has also undergone surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot, said that there are still many more indigent children suffering from CHD and who are waiting to be operated on.

According to Tan Ting, between 1,700 to 3,500 kids suffer from CHD every year so there are still a lot of children from decades ago who needs surgery.

Amora said they are very grateful to the Gift of Life program because there are not many foundations which helps children with CHD undergo heart surgeries.

Tan Ting said that they are also planning to equip the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center so complex heart surgeries on children could be done here in Cebu and they will not have to go to as far as the U.S. or Manila which is the case of their past beneficiaries. 

Sia said that they are hoping to make this event an annual one so they could help more children. He added that being able to help one is already quite an accomplishment and that they are using it as a motivation to help more.

According to Sia, they are using the sport of triathlon as a vehicle because they see a synergy between the kids suffering from CHD and those training for a triathlon. Everything is hard and dangerous for both.

For more information about the race, please call Maniquis at 09173200849 or email your queries at cornerstone808@gmail.com. 

Additional pledges will also be accepted for those who opt not to race but still want to support the event. For more information on this go to www.rotarycebu.org or inquire via rotaryclubcebu@yahoo.com.ph.