A journey of hard work, resilience and love
Published: 12 February 2025
No stranger to facing a challenge, Mary drew on the strength and determination of her family when her husband, John, was struck by a heart attack.
Founders of the stunning Cardrona Alpine Resort and Snow Farm, Mary and her husband John have been champions of helping New Zealanders get active and adventurous – particularly through cross-country skiing – for decades. This, plus their busy life as parents to three children and eight grandchildren, has meant that there’s been no time for idling.
This was why it was so shocking for Mary when, in 1987 in their family home, John suffered a sudden heart attack.
“I remember we were both home with our children. John would have been in his mid-fifties, and he had a sudden heart attack,” she recalls. “There was no history of heart disease in the family, and we lived a reasonably active lifestyle, so it came out of the blue.”
Mary drove him to seek medical attention, and it was after this event that John was diagnosed with haemochromatosis. Haemochromatosis is a condition caused by the build-up of iron in the body, and left untreated, can lead to harmful complications with the heart.
“This was about thirty years ago,” Mary explains, “and we had never heard of haemochromatosis. John was one of the first people in our community to be diagnosed!”
Since then, John had been mostly successful in managing his condition and the problems with his heart. However, he sadly experienced a second heart attack, not too long ago.
“It was frightening, but we were so grateful for modern treatment. Also, he was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time – it happened in the doctor’s surgery!” she says. “From the onset of his heart attack at 10 o’clock in the morning, he had a stent fitted and was feeling fine by 1 o’clock in the afternoon. And it’s thanks to the wonderful operations they can do nowadays that he can live a normal life at home and enjoy his family.”
Not only has Mary’s life been touched by heart disease through her husband, but her young grandson Archie was born with a heart complication called right aortic arch, which led to a vascular ring. It’s Archie and John’s experiences that have led Mary to be such an avid supporter of the Heart Foundation.
“There’s just so much ongoing research that could help children like Archie, and I just look at him and say ‘wow, it’s so amazing that he’s able to live a normal life thanks to his surgeries’,” says Mary. “I think it’s really important to raise funds for heart research, because it does end up supporting families in need.”
In May 2024, Mary and her grandson Archie took on the brand-new event, MyMarathon, where they walked 43.8 kilometres together and raised over $3,000 in donations.
“It was wonderful thing to get involved and to get behind as a supporter,” she says. “Because you never know if heart disease is going to affect your family. It can happen so suddenly. Plus, there’s so much positive that can be done through research.”
She continues, “Now I’m sharing my family’s story in the hopes of raising awareness and more life-saving funds in the Big Heart Appeal. The more understanding we have of heart disease and how it affects people, the more lives that could be saved.”