Personal Message:
UPDATED: A former Race Director at IRONMAN South Africa, I will be racing (read ‘participating in’) this year’s 20th Anniversary edition of the IRONMAN African Championship, an event I haven't participated in since 2013. With my son, Bruce Durant, we were to do this together for Bruce’s daughter, my first grandchild, Colbie Rayne Durant, who is a ‘special needs’ child, and a miracle! However, Bruce has sustained an injury whilst participating in a triathlon race, and has now had to downscale to the 5150 on Saturday, 29th March. We will still both be racing under the ‘IRONMAN 4 the Kidz’ banner, doing the events for the 'Care for Colbie' fund. Colbie was born on the 19th December 2022 with a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder, Centronuclear Myopathy, and a carrier to another muscular disease called Myotonia Congenita. She spent her first four-and-a-half months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in hospital, eventually going home for the first time on 26th April 2023, just in time for her dad’s birthday on the 29th April. As Colbie cannot swallow (- something we all take for granted), at 4 months she was surgically fitted with a PEG feeding tube, which still remains in place, in order to feed and hydrate her. She has been through so much and has proven she is determined, strong willed, courageous, brave and yet so fierce. This precious little girl is a ‘miss sassy pants’ and has the cheekiest grin. Supported by the Round Tables of East London No 1 and Durban No 2, with ‘Care for Colbie’ we’re trying to raise funds towards research of her rare genetic disorder, and also to assist in covering costs for her medical assessments, equipment and therapy treatments that the medical aid does not cover. (update at 2025-02-14)
