Local teen bikes across America for heart disease

JACKSON, Tenn. — A young woman who once lived in West Tennessee is cycling across the United States for a great cause.

Arielle Lui, a native of Jackson, is in day nine of her bike tour as she raises funds for heart patients in the place she calls home.

A few ways to describe Arielle Lui: high school graduate, avid cyclist and hometown hero.

“Right now I’m biking from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, this summer to raise money for Friends of Heart, which is a part of the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation,” Lui said.

The 18-year-old advocate wants to shed light on cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 cause of death in the country. “It made sense to reach out to Friends of Heart and see if we could support them,” Lui said.

Through a partnership with Friends of Heart, Ari wants to expand the level of care and services offered to heart patients here in West Tennessee.

“My dad is a cardiologist, and a lot of my family has been affected by heart disease,” Lui said.

Ari shared a photo from day eight of her ride in Ontario, saying in part, “To be honest, the scenery reminded me of West Tennessee. We also met a lot of friendly and helpful Canadians today.”

She says biking across the country has been a longtime goal.

“It has always been a personal goal of mine to bike across the U.S., because I was a cyclist in high school and it was just something I knew I wanted to do,” Lui said.

While traveling across America, Ari has been stopping to visit unique places.

“I am in Michigan, we just crossed over,” Lui said. “We were in Ontario, and now we are on the border of Canada and Michigan.”

Ari hopes to complete the bike tour by August.

If you would like to donate to Ari’s campaign, visit her Friends of Heart web page.

You can also keep up with Ari’s progress on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.