Former Dublin minor hurling goalkeeper Cormac Ryan is about to embark on a 1200KM cycle around Ireland as part of his Cycle For Life initiative.

Cormac lined out between the posts in the 2011 All-Ireland MHC final defeat to Galway but was diagnosed with a serious heart condition the following year which meant he had to have a pacemaker implanted in his chest.

After a year on the sideline, the Whitehall Colmcille clubman made it back onto the Metropolitans' U21 panel for 2013 and 2014.

In 2013, 14 months after his diagnosis, Cormac cycled 1100km around the coastline of the country raising €35,000 for various charities including the Cormac McAnallen Trust.

In two weeks time, Cormac and five others will cycle through all 32 counties in Ireland over 10 days again for the same cause along with the inclusion of Aware as their mental health charity this time.

After his diagnosis, Cormac suffered badly with depression and anxiety for the best part of three years and struggled to mix what was going on in my head with being part of an inter county team.

The 22-year-old has been an advocate of speaking out about mental health problems as he experienced first hand the difference it can make and so included it in the Cycle For Life initiative for 2015.

All going well Cycle For Life will have raised over €50,000 over the last two years by the end of this year's trip.

The goal of the whole event is to save as many lives as possible from undetected cardiac conditions as well as promoting positive mental health.

The Cycle For Life mantra for 2015 - Mind your heart. Love your mind.

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