KARACHI: At 6am on Sunday the Docs on Wheels were out to promote heart health on their bicycles on World Heart Day ... well, a day prior to the actual date because more people could make time on Sunday for the very important activity of not just pedalling their way to health themselves but also spread awareness.

Of course, not everyone on a bicycle had to be a doctor — there were other Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) staff, faculty, nurses, students and many other cycling groups such as ECKO Ryders, GG Group, Free Riders, Slow and Steady, Cycologists, PECHS Riders, We Will Get There When We Get There and Critical Mass, all joining the good cause on the call of the section of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the AKUH.

The massages, “Heart over habit”, “Don’t miss a beat” and gathering “Thori si himmat [a little courage and effort]” was loud and clear for everyone.

AKUH’s cardiothoracic surgeon Prof Dr Saulat Hasnain Fatimi, the main organiser at the AKUH, who started this cycling group at the university hospital during the Covid-19 lockdown, said that he just wanted to create positivity along with a lifestyle change as cycling was a good way to do that. Cardiovascular diseases, once considered illnesses of old age, are increasingly affecting people in their 30s and 40s due to sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, smoking, unmanaged stress and the absence of regular check-ups, he added.

Cycling enthusiasts assemble at two separate events in city

“Heart disease often remains silent until it becomes life-threatening,” Dr Fatimi pointed out.

“We see many patients who could have saved themselves from angioplasty or bypass surgery with earlier lifestyle changes and regular screenings,” he added.

Lessons begin at home and Dr Fatimi had already passed on the healthy practice to his family members. His eldest son, Asad Saulat Fatimi, who is looking forward to graduating as a doctor from the AKUH this year, was also there with his bicycle.

Head of dentistry at the AKUH Dr Syed Murtaza Raza Kazmi was accompanied with his three sons on their bicycles.

Dr Irfan Daudi, the oldest cyclist there on Sunday, said that people were often amazed that he cycled at his age.

“I simply ask them to join me,” he smiled, adding that he was the proud grandfather of six grand kids. When asked if they had also come with him, he explained that they would have if they did not live abroad. Still, he was happy to report that all cycled, the three older ones who were over six years in age bicycled and the three little ones had their own tricycles.

Paediatric neurologist Prof Dr Prem Chand was also there with his bright red bicycle that he had brought from Tokyo. He was excited about the ride, which was to take them from the AKUH to Boat Basin where a lavish breakfast of halwa-puri awaited.

When asked if that breakfast was good for the heart, the professor reminded that they would also be pedalling back to the hospital after breakfast, hence they will burn the extra calories consumed.

Registered nurse Sara Ismail and her younger sister and student nurse Muskaan Ismail were also there but hoping to cycle more often in their busy schedules.

Meanwhile, Amin Lakhani was coordinating with the students and making sure that everyone got a bicycle and everyone was ready and well taken care of on the way. That was also why he was the only one there not cycling. “I have to be in the escort vehicle, watching out for any problems anyone might face on the way,” he explained.

But there was one student who had a problem even before the ride. Urooj Syed, a second year student from the Arts and Sciences section thought her bicycle seat was crooked or broken. Mr Lakhani made sure that she was given another set of wheels immediately from the 180 rented bikes arranged by the AKUH specially for the ride.

But there were very happy bikers too like the three first-year medical students Usman Qaiser, Saad Ali and Khubaib Abdullah who found brand new bicycles among the rented ones. The three friends said that they were going to race each other during the ride. “It would be fun,” said Usman.

“And this is how we speak about this cause and how physical activity helps make your heart strong and healthy,” he added.

Cyclists in PECHS

In yet another World Heart Day cycling event, scores of riders from all over the city assembled at the Sindhi Muslim roundabout in the morning.

They belonged to a number of cycling groups, from PECHS to DHA and beyond.

Organised by Tabba Heart Institute, the cyclists in the event — young and old, women and men — rode up to Tabba Heart Medical Centre-DHA phase-II, where the event culminated after a ceremony.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2025