Running for Healthcare Access in Gaza

Almost two years ago on October 14th of 2022, I underwent a surgical procedure to implant an ICD, or an internal defibrillator, around my heart to reduce my risk of cardiac arrest after being diagnosed with an FLNC gene mutation that puts me at risk for a number of cardiomyopathies. Upon my initial diagnosis, I was devastated to hear that in order to be most safe I should limit almost all exercise, which has always been a seriously important component to my social life and mental health, whether that be through soccer, skiing, surfing, or running. Happily, upon switching doctors to receive more specialized care aimed towards inherited cardiomyopathies, my new doctors put a larger emphasis on quality of life, allowing me to regain some athletic freedom upon the implant of my ICD, coupled with supervision and regular testing to ensure my heart was beating strong.

I was determined to not allow this and my condition to seriously inhibit my athletic capacities. I also really needed a healthy way to support my mental health, which I have typically always done through exercise. So with the help and supervision of my doctors (and many supportive friends training for similar races), I decided to train and run a marathon before the two year anniversary of my procedure. Woohoo!

While I am excited to cross that finish line, it is difficult to do so in celebration given the context of the issues our world currently faces. I am only able to cross this finish line due to an immense amount of privilege that provides me with the capacity and financial security to travel across state lines for a high level of specialized healthcare, a type of healthcare that many people in our world do not have access to, particularly those in areas that have been subjected to US backed violence.

The Portland Marathon, which is run on October 6th, occurs on the 365th day of genocide in occupied Palestine (although this is the 365th day of the current genocide, the colonial project of ethnic cleansing began in 1945. Go to https://merip.org/palestine-israel-primer/ to read about the long history of this conflict.) . The distance I am running, 26.2 miles, is one mile LONGER than the length of Gaza, which currently holds about 2 million displaced civilians with no place to go in the face of US funded warfare. Healthcare access in this region has been systemically destroyed, leaving millions without safe access to a doctor.

Please help me run my marathon while working to make healthcare more accessible for the children in Gaza. My own capacity to receive the healthcare necessary to run a marathon should not be a product of privilege, and this kind of healthcare access should be a universal right. My goal is to raise 1000$ for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, a long-standing organization that works to provide free healthcare for youth in Gaza, the West Bank, and all of Palestine.

I not only encourage you all to donate, but to additionally analyze activities in your own lives that you can build collective power within to work towards collective liberation and an end to imperialist violence.

Want to make it interesting? Reach out to me and place a bet on how many of the 26 miles I'll run in under an 8 minute split, the current time to BQ.