I lost my father due to idiopathic cardiomyopathy (heart disease) just before my seventh birthday. I was the oldest of four boys and, in turn, had to grow up quickly. My mother would never remarry, as she made raising the four of us her priority.
We moved around a lot when I was young, and ultimately left Dallas, Texas, to end up in the same small town my mother graduated high school from. It was important to my mom to have us spend our middle school and high school days with the family we had left, which all resided in Northwest Iowa.
I was blessed to be cared for the way I was, but clearly heart disease has had a major impact on my life, and I want to do what I can to continue enabling research and medicine that can reduce the chances of this happening to anyone else.