Medtronic Seeking Long-Distance Runners Benefiting from Medical Technology

“Global Heroes” Will Receive Complimentary Entries, Travel to the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon or Medtronic TC 10 Mile in October

Medtronic is recruiting runners from around the world who benefit from medical technology to participate in the fourth annual Medtronic Global Heroes program. Up to 25 runners will be selected to receive two paid entries into the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon or the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, Oct. 3, in Minnesota. Recipients will receive a travel package that includes airfare for the Global Hero and guest.

The program is a dynamic example of how individuals with chronic health conditions are living full, active lives and inspiring others in the process.
To qualify as a Global Hero, runners must currently be using a medical device therapy to treat the following disease categories: heart disease, diabetes, chronic pain, spinal disorders, or neurological, gastroenterology and urological disorders. Eligible medical devices include any pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), any spinal device, any neurological device, any insulin pump or any heart valve. All runners with eligible devices are welcome to apply with no restriction on manufacturer. 

To apply or nominate someone to be a Global Hero, visit medtronic.com/globalheroes. The deadline for accepting all applications is March 31, 2010.

In addition to race entry and travel expenses, the Medtronic Foundation will donate $1,000 to a non-profit patient organization that educates and supports people who live with the Global Hero’s condition.

Brian Hicks
Pike Road, Alabama
Hicks, 38, has a spinal cord stimulator to manage pain

Hicks began running in high school as a way to stay in shape and continued with the sport as a member of the military. Unfortunately, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a painful nerve disorder, eventually prevented him from continuing with the sport.

“After each run I would deal with burning, intense pain that would put me down for days,” he states. “I went for six years dealing with this pain before having a spinal cord stimulator implanted in 2004. Since that time, I literally have gotten my life back.”

Still, his life took “a turn for the surreal” he says, when he lost his left leg blow the knee in May of 2008.

“I was very adamant before the surgery that I would run again on a running prosthetic,” he recalls. “After recovering from the amputation, the nerve problem that led to it is alive and well, but with the stimulator managing my pain I am once again able to carry on with my life.”

Hicks’ summer training will be supplemented by four triathlons, including the New York City triathlon in July.
 
He hopes that his selection as a Global Hero will “show others with RSD that there is hope if you’re willing to challenge yourself and dare to become a different person.

“There is also no question how positive an impact the friends of mine who are amputees have had helping me realize that it is just the beginning of a new life. I want to be that example for those with RSD that life, although it may be painful at times, truly is worth living again.”

January 25, 2010