Photo from Bob Schneider

By Jayson Taylor

Medicine Hat teens pedaling towards a stroke-free future

Jul 27, 2023 | 2:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Two teenagers from Medicine Hat will be going on their toughest bike ride yet later this summer. Kade Draganiuk and Saran Ramanujam will be biking over 200 km from Medicine Hat to Brooks and back as part of a fundraiser they have set up to raise money for victims of heart disease and strokes.

Both Draganiuk and Ramanujam have had family members who have experienced issues with heart disease, they want to make it so that no one should have to deal with the suffering that comes with heart disease. They’re pedalling for a future that is free from heart disease and strokes.

The two teens from Medicine Hat High School hope to raise $5,000 by the time their fundraiser closes in early September. They also hope to make this an annual tradition and expand the distance they can cover. Ramanujam says that they hope to eventually bike distances that could take them far and wide.

“Our goal is to increase our distance goal every year, and we want to build up on our grade twelve year. We want to build up to across Canada basically and that’s one of our goals right now,” Ramanujam said on Thursday.

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Biking is an avid interest for the two teens, they frequently go for bike rides and they say that biking is the best and the most versatile exercise that anyone can do.

“Saran and I, we are very avid bikers so we bike together a lot, and it’s a really good form of low impact cardio, it’s really accessible, and even if you’re not the fittest person, there’s always e-bikes, and you can go at your own pace,” Draganiuk said Thursday.

The boys will start their journey to Brooks at Gas City Campgrounds just off the Trans-Canada Highway at sunrise on August 26 with the aim to be back in Medicine Hat by 9 pm.

The two boys have set up a page on Canada Helps where people are able to help donate to their fundraiser and learn more about their fundraiser. A Facebook page will be set up soon, but is at the time not available for the time being. The fundraiser will run until September 4.