Florey resident Iain Macleod, who had open heart surgery in 2003, will be among those who give up their time on Father's Day to help the cause.

The fit and active then 37-year-old had a faulty aorta leading to his heart that needed to be surgically grafted in order to save his life.

Mr Macleod said he wanted to raise awareness among Australians about the importance of looking after their health.

''I had a ticking time bomb inside my body,'' he said. ''I was not aware of it, I was an athlete at the time. The aorta leading into my heart was completely worn out.''

Mr Macleod was shocked when doctors told him that his aorta had deteriorated to the point it had become ''see-through'' and he would not have long to live unless he had surgery.

''I had a hole in my heart as well, which was something that had needed to be monitored. In surgery they closed the hole and put in a dacron graft.''

Mr Macleod said he was able to get help because he listened to his body and talked to his wife, an anaesthetic nurse, about the symptoms he was suffering.

''I knew something was wrong and I said to my wife 'I'm not right and I can't breathe properly','' he said. ''She tried to take my pulse and couldn't do it because it was going so fast and then I went to see a cardiologist.''

The Heart Foundation's ACT chief executive officer Tony Stubbs said heart disease remained the number one killer of Australian men and women.

''An Australian dies from heart disease every 24 minutes, which is why we're investing the equivalent of $1 million a month in world-class research this year,'' he said.

''With the help of Iain and our other fantastic volunteer collectors we hope to raise $212,000 in the ACT to fund critical community projects to improve awareness, prevention and treatment.''