Cycle for a Cause

THE PEDAL SRI LANKA BIKE RIDE RETURNS IN 2025

- BY GAYANTHA PERERA

Kieran Michael, a physiotherapist based in Melbourne, Australia, has more than a few reasons to visit Sri Lanka. His Father Wesley once called our fair shores home, and his family took every opportunity to introduce him to the wonders of our island that kept him returning to meet his extended family, play cricket (which he calls a formative experience) including returning once in 2016 on his own for an internship that even inspired him to pursue further education to become the Physiotherapist he is today.

But on one such visit in 2023, Kieran and his mother Christine, a now retired nurse, were invited to an operating theatre of one of the only hospitals in the country capable of pediatric cardiac care to view an open-heart surgery being performed on a three-month-old baby. A reality check of sorts echoed as they watched medical professionals' 'make-do' with outdated tools. Each year, a dedicated team performs about 800 cardiac surgeries in this same hospital, and there are still 2000 children on the waitlist.