Fans unite for the Raiders; now, let's support heart health and remember the importance of quick action in emergencies.
On Thursday night, as the Raiders run out onto GIO Stadium, thousands of fans will rise to their feet for the famous Viking Clap. It's a moment of unity, pride and power and a reminder of what this community can achieve when it comes together.
This week, the Heart Foundation is asking Canberrans to bring that same energy to something else that deserves our roar of support: our heart health.
Cardiovascular disease claims around 500 lives in the ACT each year. That's 500 families changed forever by something that is, in many cases, preventable. Despite this, too many of us put our heart health on the bench, pushed aside by busy schedules, work, family and the belief that serious heart issues only happen to someone else.
No one understands this more than 16-year-old Raiders fan, Rory Pittman. Last year, while playing basketball in Queanbeyan, Rory went into sudden cardiac arrest.