Heart Beat at SMG

Ishara Jayawardane

Harshula Wimalashantha, 20, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010 and up to now he has been undergoing a lot of surgeries, mainly in India. The health facilities in Sri Lanka have not been able to help him. So he was transferred to India. In India itself he has undergone one or two surgeries. The tumor is located in the brain in a place where it is difficult to reach. The tumor is also recurring. Already four million have been spent on medical bills.

"We as his batch mates, the college prefects have organized a run call Heart Beat. Taking place on March 2, it will start off at the Sports Ministry Grounds (SMG) opposite the SSC and it is a five kilometer run and it basically covers most of Colombo 7. Every cent that we get from this run is for Wimalashantha. He has been a very close friend of ours from his young days. We want to help him as best as we can," said Rahantha Abeykoon of the organising committee. The event is open to public.

"We are also accepting donations towards this cause. Hopefully with the funds of this run he can go through the operation. The operation costs about Rs.800,000. Our target is to raise One million from this run. Hopefully it will be a success. He was the president of the radio club, he took part in the Shakespeare Drama competition that S.Thomas' won.

"He was also a college prefect. So it breaks our hearts as well. He would do the same thing for us. He is also the only child and I am pretty sure his parents must also be heartbroken. We want to help them as much as possible and show them that they are not alone in this.

"We are definitely there with them and backing them up. By the grace of God hopefully this run will go well." There are T- Shirts for the run. Everyone taking part in the run will have to wear a T-Shirt.

"Once you register they will be given a receipt, they have to bring it on the day of the run and they get the T-shirt. "There is a limited number of T- Shirts. So if they do not register early they will just be paying the registration to take part. We are expecting around 800 people."