Caring for cardiac patients at Cairns Hospital is all in a day’s work for registered nurses Ruby Valks and Peyton Williams (pictured above). But for three days in September, they’re swapping their pink uniform to join the sea of riders in green and blue to raise vital...

WHAT does lip balm, leather balm and honey, have to do with life-saving medical equipment? For Don Anderson, everything as the keen amateur bee-keeper sells the proceeds of his hobby to assist his fundraising for the QSuper Cardiac Challenge. “I was mowing near some...

The Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation has obtained a one-lane road closure of the Kennedy Highway (Kuranda Range) on Saturday, September 14, 2024. To enable cyclists in the QSuper Cardiac Challenge to safely traverse the range, the up-lane will be closed from...

A LEGEND of rugby league is throwing his weight behind an innovative new aspect to the QSuper Cardiac Challenge. Sam Backo, who is lucky to be alive after a massive heart attack while undergoing unrelated orthopaedic surgery, has joined the Brothers Leagues Club team...

NEW devices bought for the Cairns Hospital Intensive Care Unit might weigh less than 500 grams, but the information they hold can be the difference between life and death. Four PICCO devices bought through the QSuper Cardiac Challenge and a special lunch celebrating...

ONE rides his bike every day, the other rides his bike once a year but two QSuper Cardiac Challenge participants have been recognised for their contribution to the event’s success. Long-time rider Tony Nastasi has been commended for raising $25,705 for this year’s...

WHAT does it take to feed 180 cyclists, 42 supporters and 100 volunteers for three days? This is a logistical exercise the hard-working team preparing for this weekend’s QSuper Cardiac Challenge are in the midst of more than 1100kg of cold cut meats for sandwiches,...

Saturday, September 16, 2023 The Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation advises it has obtained a one-lane road closure of the Kennedy Highway (Kuranda Range) on Saturday, September 16, 2023. To enable cyclists in the QSuper Cardiac Challenge to safely traverse the...

The day of Wayne Christiansen’s triple bypass surgery could almost be described as his rebirth, as it took place on his 64th birthday. Just over 12 months’ on from that momentous day and Wayne is excited to be one of the first bypass patients to take part in the...

FORTY-seven minutes was the time taken from when Peter Eicens rang the ambulance, to when the blockages in his heart were cleared at the Cairns Hospital cardiac catheter laboratory on Sunday, August 20. Mr Eicens, a recently retired former police officer, had just...

Kerri-ann Hope may only be 38 but a genetic heart issue has meant she’s had two pacemakers installed in the past 13 years. Diagnosed in 2010 with left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, Kerri-ann has had two pacemakers installed. For now though, she’s not...

What’s rowing got to do with riding your bike to Cooktown? Everything, for father and son cyclists Shane and Kai Pue who are saddling up for the life-saving QSuper Cardiac Challenge bike ride for the fifth and third times respectively. At the age of 17, Kai Pue...

NOSE, throat and respiratory patients are among the winners from the 2022 QSuper Cardiac Challenge. Two pieces of equipment bought from last year’s event are already being used by patients and trainee doctors to improve health outcomes. Cairns Hospital Director of...

WHAT does 215 cyclists, 333 kilometres, 45 supporters and 101 volunteers add up to? $465,000 raised in the 2022 QSuper Cardiac Challenge. The final fundraising tally is the outcome of 2022’s fundraising bike ride from Cairns to Cooktown – the event’s second highest...

Bernie Hall-Matthews was living an idyllic life as a little boy with his family in Cooktown in the 1970s. Until his mother took him to the local GP for a chest infection at the age of three and it was discovered he had an irregular heartbeat. “After several years of...

The sudden loss of cyclist Luke Azzopardi more than 12 months ago sent shock waves through the whole community. None were more impacted than his immediate family and loved ones. Luke’s Oma AnneMarie Helmke described the 19-year-old as an incredibly positive influence...

When Cheryl Campbell bought tickets in a raffle last year, she never expected to end up using the equipment she contributed to. While Mrs Campbell knew she had a heart condition for many years, the rare pulmonary arterial hypertension was discovered quite recently...

Thelrina Akene woke up at her home on Yam Island recently and couldn’t walk. She and her mum Sandi were transferred via helicopter to Thursday Island Hospital for a series of medical tests. Fast forward a few weeks and they are in the Cairns Hospital Children’s Ward,...

RECORDS were repeatedly smashed at this year’s QSuper Cardiac Challenge in what has been a difficult year for many. More than $527,000 was raised during the fundraising bike ride from Cairns to Cooktown, surpassing the previous highest amount raised by more than...

By Heath Schreiweis I am no cyclist, or even an athlete. Lately, life is pretty much a desk job with a few hours of gym each week. So when I decided to sign up for the QSuper Cardiac Challenge, I knew this would undoubtedly be one of the most physically demanding...

INSPIRED by her grandfather two years ago, 13-year-old Willow Footer is riding from Cairns to her hometown Cooktown in this weekend’s QSuper Cardiac Challenge. “I am doing the QSuper Cardiac Challenge because in 2019 I watched my grandad Kevin Tomlinson and the many...

The Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation’s single biggest donor is grateful for the ability to make a difference to health outcomes. Through her latest donation of $50,000 to the QSuper Cardiac Challenge, Joyce Swinton has now contributed $900,000 to the...

TEAM Blair Hair in the QSuper Cardiac Challenge this weekend was meant to be a trio, but instead mother-and-son duo Jacki and Blake Goodwin are taking it on in her brother’s honour. Tragedy struck early in 2020 when Jacki’s younger brother Blair Kissel aged 40 died...

ONE single team in the QSuper Cardiac Challenge 2021 has raised more than a sixth of the overall total. Team WTF (which stands for Where’s the Finish) has raised more than $64,000 and are well on their way to their $70,000 goal. Team captain Rhonda Coghlan instigated...

Shane and Kai Pue have more in common than most. They work together, they’re father and son. They also have cardiac conditions. They also are each other’s inspiration and are riding in the cardiac fundraising, the QSuper Cardiac Challenge this September. Shane had...

PATIENTS and healthcare professionals are painfully aware of how far you may have to travel for access to treatment when you’re living in Far North Queensland. The NQRTH Doxycyclists, a group of James Cook University medical students and junior doctors, are preparing...

QSuper is bolstering cardiac care in Far North Queensland by enabling 100 percent of funds raised through the annual QSuper Cardiac Challenge to support the purchase of new equipment for cardiac and respiratory services in FNQ. This is an important partnership...

Clocking up 100,000km on your bicycle is an almost unheard-of feat. Not so for QSuper Cardiac Challenge instigator Pete McNally who has just achieved that feat in just over six years on his Specialised S Works MTB. “People say to me that I must be due a new bike, but...

Hearts and lungs will be pumping hard together in the lead-up to this year’s QSuper Cardiac Challenge in September. After four years riding with the Cardiac Maniacs, Cairns Hospital Director of Respiratory Dr Stephen Vincent has formed his own team “Lungs of Steel”...

A GROUP of teenagers who took on and won the challenge of riding from Cairns to Cooktown for cardiac services, will see those very services up close today. Five teenagers, part of team Wheelie Good in the QSuper Cardiac Challenge, won the highest fundraising team in...