Nicky Bangma

I've signed up to do 100 skips a day throughout August to raise money for Children's Medical Research Institute and help save more kids.

I am alive because of medical research.

Some of the research that laid the foundation for cardiac pacing was so aggressive that it can be upsetting to read. But the fact is that I am—and millions of other people are—still alive because of it.

In the late 1940s, surgeon Dr. Wilfred Bigelow was trying to make open-heart surgery possible by placing dogs in ice baths until their hearts slowed and stopped. The challenge was finding a way to restart them safely. Working alongside him, engineer John Hopps discovered that hearts stopped by extreme cold could be restarted using electrical stimulation. That breakthrough led to the world's first artificial pacemaker in 1950—a cumbersome, wall-powered machine. When I first read about it, I imagined myself relieved to be alive but tethered to the wall. I can only imagine how frightening that must have been.  

Just two years later, Dr. Paul Zoll developed the first clinically successful external pacemaker for humans. It saved lives, but at a terrible cost, delivering painful high-voltage shocks that caused severe muscle spasms and skin burns. Those early breakthroughs eventually led to Wilson Greatbatch's accidental discovery of low-voltage electrical pulses, making today's implantable pacemakers possible.

I was born with a hole between the chambers of my heart that wasn't discovered until I was three months old. I spent two months in hospital, mostly in an incubator, and was left paralysed on one side of my body. There wasn't much hope. My mum found it hard to visit as every goodbye could have been the last. Fortunately, my doctor believed I was strong enough to survive, and he was right. I fully recovered.

However at the age of 6 I did need a pacemaker. Now being 54, I've honestly lost count, but I think I am on number nine or ten. Some had to be replaced early because of faulty leads or other issues. My disease may not have been genetic, but the fact is, I wouldn't be here without the research that came before I was born.

So if doing 100 skips a day this month can help these kids, it's a no-brainer for me. I love skipping... even if I'm not very good at it! Turns out my 14-year-old son can skip on grass, but I can't

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I still can't do 100 skips in one go, but I've worked my way up from 30 to 40 and hopefully to 100 by the end of the month! 

If you're able to donate, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you so much for your support—it means the world to the children and families who depend on this research. xxx