Peter Paddling for a Cause Close to his Heart

Peter Charlesworth stands tall as his rhythmic strokes propel him down the Murray. Under his sun-tanned feet is ‘Karina’, a trusty paddle board named after the paramedic who kept Peter alive during an emergency flight between Albury and Melbourne in 2020. The Albury father of two nearly lost his life at 47, requiring triple bypass open heart surgery. Now, at 49, and feeling like a man in his 30s, Peter is attempting a Guinness World Record 2,800km ultra-distance expedition for The Heart Foundation.

“You could say it’s my mid-life crisis done different.” Peter joked as he sat in the office in his bright yellow paddling shirt after the day’s 7 hours of paddling.

“I ended up having an emergency triple bypass in 2020, at the start of COVID-19. I got through that, got through the rehabilitation side of things and my health was on a bit of an upswing. I thought I’ll go on with it, and came up with this harebrained idea to try and draw attention to what should be a squeaky wheel.

“We should be paying more attention to heart health, because it’s the biggest killer in the country by far.”

In 2020, coronary heart disease was the leading single cause of death in Australia, accounting for 16,600 deaths; this represents 10 per cent of all deaths, and 41 per cent of cardiovascular disease deaths.

Peter is averaging 42 kilometres a day and will paddle the full length of the Murray River, and circumnavigate lakes Hume, Mulwala (cut short due to treacherous weather conditions), and Alexandrina along the way with no support crew, over 70+ days and nights.

Atop the paddle board, Peter carries everything he could possibly need – food, water, camera equipment, tent, medical supplies, including contingencies for unforeseen events. One such event happened in the upper Murray, where fast flowing water nearly sank the attempt in its infancy. 

“I nearly lost all the equipment at one point in the upper Murray, where the board and all the dry bags got swept through some fast water on a really dangerous corner.

“Everything went upside down and straight into a tree branch, spearing between the big deck bag and the board and then the water turned the board 180 degrees, tying it onto the branch.

“With the rapids hitting the bags, it took half an hour and five attempts to get out.

“It nearly ended the trip on day four.”

Whatever the outcome is, Peter feels blessed to have already impacted the lives of people he has met; recounting how two blokes who had heard him on ABC’s Macca program stopped by in their Landcruiser ute to make a donation and pledged to get their heart health checked.

“Some people feel that because they’ve reached their 70s, they are past the danger period, but they’ve still got kids and grandkids they love, who still want them in their lives.”

To find out more about Peter, track his progress or to donate to the Heart Foundation, head to  www.sup4health2023.org or find him on Facebook.