Subject: We're Walking to Save Lives—Join Us in the Heart Walk â¤ï¸

On July 1, 2025, my husband Marty called me from work. He was having a stressful day and mentioned feeling pressure in his chest. He brushed it off—blaming the stress and a heavy barbecue lunch. But when he came home on July 5, he was completely drained. He could barely make it to the couch, yet still insisted it was just exhaustion from working too hard.

Concerned, I entered his symptoms into WebMD: neck pain, fatigue, chest pressure. The results pointed to either heartburn—or a heart attack. I called my brother, whose best friend is a heart surgeon. His advice was clear: “Get to the ER. If it’s nothing, they’ll send you home.”

It wasn’t until our dog began circling Marty and crying that he finally agreed to go. By the time we arrived at the hospital, he could barely get out of the car.

Marty was having a heart attack—and had been for four days. The fact that he kept working through it was nothing short of miraculous. His heart enzyme levels, which should be under 25, were over 10,000 and climbing. He underwent four stents and a mini bypass. Two arteries were 99% blocked, one was 100%, and one of them was the infamous “widow maker.”

Thanks to cutting-edge research and technology, Marty survived. That’s why we’re walking in the Heart Walk—to support the science that saved his life and to help save others.

We’re walking with purpose. We’re walking for hope. And we’re asking for your support.

Please help me reach my fundraising goal today. Every step we take is a step toward saving lives.

With gratitude,

Kim Pfeifer-Smith