MANILA, Philippines - Ariel Arriola, a Filipino runner once diagnosed with a childhood heart ailment, will participate in the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov. 2 to race funds for the benefit of more than 600 indigent children under the care of the Department of Pediatrics of the Philippine General Hospital.
In a section about Arriola’s advocacy, the NYC Marathon’s official fundraising website www.crowdrise.com/pghpediatrics/fundraiser/arielarriola said that because “getting decent medical attention is expensive and out of reach for many who live in the Philippines,” the poor rely on government institutions like the PGH for primary health care needs. However, the limited budget and resources of the PGH are insufficient to bear the daily cost, much less pay for the required medical procedures, of these children. The PGH relies heavily on charities such as the Child Health In Life and Development (CHILD) Foundation, Inc. (http://www.childfoundationinc.org.ph/homepage.html) for financial support.
“I know what it means to live with a heart ailment,” said Arriola. “I also know the cost of curing such an ailment and the positive life-changing benefits of that cure.”
Arriola was around eight years old when he had his first “heart attack” while swimming with his father. He recalls seeing his heart literally trying to leap out of his breast. The diagnosis was that he had a mitral valve prolapse (an improperly closing heart valve) and was advised to refrain from strenuous activities, which included most sports.
Because Arriola did not exhibit further symptoms after that initial episode, he hid his heart ailment and tried to live a normal life. As a teenager, he even continued to engage competitively in sports without telling anyone about his illness. “I knew it would be counterproductive to disclose to anyone that I have a heart ailment,” he recalled. “But I had to be mindful all the time because it was impossible to tell when an episode would occur.”
Sports took a backseat in Arriola’s life as he pursued a law degree at the Ateneo de Manila School of Law, passed the Philippine bar, and joined the global firm of Baker & McKenzie. Later on, he became a Graduate Legal Studies Scholar of his firm at the Columbia Law School and passed the New York bar.
Arriola is a private law practitioner based in Makati who helps foreign companies invest in the Philippines. He was deep into his practice when he had his second episode at age 35. Then newly married and about to become a father to his first-born, he was playing in a lawyer’s basketball league when had to be rushed to the hospital because of severe and irregular heart palpitations.
A battery of tests revealed that Arriola had Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a condition where an abnormal extra electrical pathway in the heart can lead to episodes of rapid heart rate. In severe cases, WPW can result in sudden cardiac arrest.