Mackay woman meets up with her idol Lisa Curry six years after the pair bonded over their hearts

The former Olympian surprised the cyclist with a bedside pep talk in hospital after learning they shared a health problem. ‘She’s incredible, she is my hero,’ the woman said when they met up again six years later in Mackay.

Jacinta Laird and Lisa Curry six years on from when they first met at hospital, meeting again before Lisa Curry's Happy Healthy You talk in Mackay, July 2021. Picture: Lillian Watkins

Six years ago to the day, Mackay woman Jacinta Laird thought she would face having a pacemaker installed in her heart alone.

But in a stroke of luck her hero Lisa Curry was right by her side.

Ms Laird said she had caught a cab to St Andrews hospital by herself because her family did not support her decision to have the surgery.

“They didn’t understand it, I had no support,” she said.

“I was pretty lonely.”

Ms Laird said she reached out to her idol Lisa Curry, knowing the former Olympian had also had a defibrillator installed.

“I sent her an email, I really didn’t expect to hear anything back,” Ms Laird said.

Instead of a simple email response, Ms Laird soon found herself holding hands with her hero in hospital.

Jacinta Laird reached out to her hero Lisa Curry before going into surgery to have a pacemaker installed in her heart in 2015. Picture: Lillian Watkins

Curry was having her pacemaker battery changed at St Andrews on the same day and had sought Ms Laird out.

“She told me ‘you’ll be fine’, and encouraged me to reset my life,” Ms Laird said.

“It helped me get through.

“She’s incredible, she is my hero.”

Ms Laird was able to meet her idol for a second time on Wednesday night when Curry held her Healthy Happy You talk at Harrup Park.

Jacinta Laird and Lisa Curry six years on from when they first met at hospital, meeting again prior to Lisa Curry's Happy Healthy You talk in Mackay, July 2021. Picture: Lillian Watkins

Curry had only recently come out of a five-day hospital stint for chest pain on the Sunshine Coast before making the trip to Mackay.

During her time in hospital where multiple tests failed to find a cause for the pain, Curry shared to Instagram a photo of her daughter Jaimi Kenny who died last September.

The caption read: “Everyone was stumped. But you can’t test for heartache”.

Curry has used Instagram to speak about the devastating loss of her eldest daughter, saying “each day seems a bit of a blur but I get through it … feeling empty … it’s hard to even think. My mind consumed as to what else I could have done to help.”

Curry’s talk at Mackay’s Harrup Park Country Club this week focused on helping women take control of their lives and live “happier and healthier”, a motto she used herself.

“Tonight is about me getting back on stage, I haven’t done anything for a long time. It’s been a horrible year, of course,” Curry said.

Jacinta Laird reached out to her hero Lisa Curry before going into surgery to have a pacemaker installed in her heart in 2015. Picture: Lillian Watkins

“Personally my health is the worst it’s been as far as my weight and eating because I’m an emotional eater, I haven’t been going to the gym. It’s been really hard.”

To get through it, Curry said she had found herself drawing on her experiences as a professional athlete.

“I have to think to myself ‘what was Lisa like as an Olympian — when things went wrong, what did I do?’,” she said.

“I have to listen to myself and listen to my own messages tonight.”

Curry wanted to share her experiences with her audience and help inspire them to make those healthy life decisions.

“I know for a fact when I exercise I feel better, but you actually have to get out of bed and go.

“It’s a case of getting to a point where you are so desperate, it forces you to change.”

“Because if you don’t change anything nothing changes, so you end up being miserable and down and unfit and unhealthy but how long can you be like that, because it's not actually a very nice feeling.

“It’s hard work being sick, it’s hard work being lean and strong and fit too, you have to choose which hard you want to do.”

Curry’s business Happy Healthy You focuses on helping women take control of their lives through treating hormone imbalances and providing support groups.

Mark Andrew and Lisa Curry prior to Lisa Curry's Happy Healthy You talk in Mackay, July 2021. Picture: Lillian Watkins

She said there were more than 400,000 women in Happy Healthy You’s online groups, some of whom were in the Mackay audience.

Curry said she was also excited to have her husband and famous Elvis tribute artist Mark Andrews by her side for her presentation, with the musician adding an extra element of fun to the evening.

Mackay women gathered to hear Lisa Curry talk about health

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