Rotorua detective Sarah Bishop is used to pushing herself to her limits.

It’s just part and parcel of 29 years in the police, including being one of the country’s first female Armed Offenders Squad operators.

However, pushing herself has taken on a whole new meaning after she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a rare inflammatory disease that’s affected her heart.

Sarcoidosis has left Bishop’s heart damaged beyond repair and requiring a pacemaker and defibrillator to keep it going – but it hasn’t taken away her fight.

Not content to simply juggle work, the Rotorua detective has entered this month’s Tongariro Goat Adventure Run – a challenging half-marathon that traverses the western slopes of Mount Ruapehu – to raise awareness, as well as money, for sarcoidosis research.

She’s documenting her journey on her Facebook page, Running Rocks & Ridges for Sarcoidosis.

Like many others with the condition, Bishop had not heard of sarcoidosis before her diagnosis.

It came like an “unreal” bolt after months of vague symptoms: fatigue, night sweats and tiredness.

“At one point they checked my blood pressure and it was up, which was really unusual.

Shaggy accompanies Detective Sarah Bishop on her adventures.

“They told me it was just hereditary, but it’s always been low. I wasn’t going to just accept that.”

Repeated trips to the doctors left her with no real answers and blood tests shed no light, but when she noticed changes in her heart rate, she pushed harder for a reason.

Her resting heart rate was sitting at about 43 – something people put down to “being so fit”, but she wasn’t having it.

As a keen runner, one of the hills she’d often run up on the family farm had become a mission – she just couldn’t push through. At one point, she thought her sports watch was broken as it was reading such a low heart rate during exercise.

Eventually, she asked her partner to physically check her pulse after she ran to the top. Despite being breathless and physically exhausted, it was just 68.

“Eventually, they did an ECG and the doctor said, ‘that’s not what I expected’.”

Bishop was sent straight to hospital.

A month’s stay in Waikato Hospital followed, along with numerous tests and the eventual diagnosis. During that time, her heart would stop for up to seven seconds.

She had surgery to install a pacemaker and defibrillator and is on a range of medication to keep the condition from spreading to other organs.

The sarcoidosis was also on lymph nodes and her oesophagus, which enabled medical specialists to carry out biopsies on the granuloma that confirmed the sarcoidosis diagnosis.

Almost 18 months on, Bishop admits the whole experience has felt unreal at times, as if she’s in a parallel universe.

“Occasionally, I’ve had to put my hand on my pacemaker just to remind me it’s real.”

She’s also aware that the condition was unique for each of those diagnosed, from the organs affected through to the amount of damage.

For that reason, she’s reluctant to be singled out as an inspiration, but hoped that her story helped counter some of the doom and gloom and said if it resonated with someone, it was worth it.

Sarah Bishop on the hill on the family farm that she uses as a training run.

“This is my story at this point in time.”

With cardiologist approval, Bishop said setting an active goal that got her back into exertion was beneficial – both physically and mentally.

“In my mind, looking after myself is making myself get out there and do the exercise so I can stay as strong as possible. I’m really lucky at the moment that I’m able to continue to do all the stuff that I love.”

Running the hills was particularly meaningful for her.

“In hospital I had a vision of this hill, and I kept visualising running up it. If I can do what I love and spread awareness and raise some money at the same time, then that’s great.”

Bishop battles fatigue due to both the condition and the medication she’s on to stop its spread, but she prioritised exercise to combat that.

She now has her sights set on The Goat. She’s done it before but was under no illusions that running it after all she’s been through would make for a different race.

“If I can finish the event with a smile on my face, I’ll be happy.”

If you’d like to support Bishop’s fundraising efforts, click here.

– Supplied content / NZ Police

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