Message from the National Burn Centre

Dave Walker is an irrepressible runner and his latest formidable challenge is a winner for the Kiwi ultra-marathoner and the National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital.

On July 11, 2011 Dave Walker will tackle the “world’s toughest foot race” – Badwater Ultramarathon for the second time.

Covering 217km (135 miles) non-stop from Death Valley to Mount Whitney, California in temperatures up to 55c (130F), it is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet.

Going further than any Kiwi

Not content to stop at the finish line Dave – the MANonFire is continuing a further 33km from the Badwater basin to the summit of Mount Whitney and back to the portals.

Dave is driven by his passion for endurance events but he also is committed to raising funds for the National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.

As a child Dave suffered burns and he regularly takes on challenges to support New Zealand’s main burn treatment facility.

He used the 2010 Badwater ultra-marathon and his personal Cape2Cape challenge in early 2011 to raise awareness for burn prevention in New Zealand and to raise funds for the National Burn Centre.

Now Dave wants people to throw their support into his latest campaign at Badwater.

Dollars for specialist surgical equipment

The MANonFire will be the first Kiwi to conquer such a mountainous slog and the money he raises will buy much needed surgical equipment.

Specialist knives and gauges cost about $2,000 and a microvascular anastomotic coupler system costs about $7,000.

 The equipment will be used in patients that require blood vessel anastomosis, which joins the ends of two blood vessels together.

The procedure is needed as a result of trauma to the vessels, in reconstruction, neck dissection and free flap grafts. Surgery time is shorter than that of traditional suturing.

Leading burn surgeon

National Burn Centre clinical leader for burns Richard Wong She says: “One moment can lead to a life-time of tragedy.

“A major burn injury is one of the most challenging injuries to treat as a doctor, and to survive as a patient.

“Seconds to burn, minutes to cool can result in days to weeks of hospitalisation, multiple operations, and a life-time of on-going care for rehabilitation and reconstruction.”

People do survive – and they can do well. With advances in plastic and reconstructive surgery bodies can be rebuilt and thus rebuild lives.

Message from Dave

I completed my 7th NZ Ironman in March 2008 with my own personal best time and sat and thought for a while about what would be the next challenge. I’ve always been goal focused and work best under pressure and with a goal in place.

Ultra marathons had always been a background idea but not one I had given any real thought or time to. While surfing the net for ideas I stumbled upon an Ultra marathon in Brazil, through the mountainous region behind Sao Paulo. One year of training later, and with the help of my wife, daughter and a great crew I completed this gruelling event in just under 56 hours, and was hooked!

I’d never really heard about Badwater until my coach Jon Akland at Performance Lab talked about how tough it was during that year of training for Brazil”. It was the “ultimate of Ultras” he stated. Suddenly a vague plan began to germinate.

Two years later I had completed a range of long distance events in New Zealand, been back to Brazil a second time, (unsuccessfully this time) and had submitted my application and Sporting CV for acceptance to the Badwater committee. On my first application I was accepted. I couldn’t believe it! Many try multiple times to be accepted, it’s really hard to get in, and I still can’t quite believe I was accepted to do this race with only two years of training under my belt. I would be running with some of the best long distance runners in the world.

As a burns victim in my very early years I had always wanted to become more involved in helping the National Burn Centre, Middlemore Hospital and specialists in some way. I needed to say thank you for the great work they did with me when I was very young and delivered to them in what I was told a fairly harrowing condition!

I saw the opportunity that the profile of this event would give me and just knew I had to use it to help burns victims and raise awareness for their needs and for longer term prevention. I know how horrible burns can be to a person’s life, especially young kids growing up. I know how difficult it was for me to even take my shirt off at a school swimming day or even at the beach. The work that the specialists do at the National Burn Centre in Middlemore Hospital and other burns wards around the country is just outstanding. They provide another chance for people to get on with an ordinary life, and be like anyone else.

I hope in some way you can join with me in raising funds for Burns victims in New Zealand. The National Burn Centre at Middlemore Hospital has a special microscope that they desperately need to do the very fine and up close work needed to repair a victim’s skin after a bad burn. It just happens to be $217,000, very similar to the distance ( 217km’s) I will be running in Badwater, Death Valley this July. If I could raise $1.00 from 217,000 New Zealanders we could make it happen!!

Have a look at the rest of this website and see how you can get involved.

Thanks in advance

Dave Walker