2024 Corridor Heart Walk

Jordan is our 2024 Corridor Heart Walk Ambassador! Jordan is 5years-old and lives in Clinton, Iowa with her dad, Derek, mom, Jenna, and 7-year-old brother, Emmett.

Did you know congenital heart defects are the #1 birth defects in babies?

Jordan was born with a congenital heart defect that includes an AV canal defect, coarctation of the aorta, and Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction. Jordan is a survivor, a thriver, and has received the care she has needed to push through her condition. As a community, we must rally around heart disease to help support critical research necessary to continue to treat hearts like Jordan’s.

The Gabel Family is one example of why it is necessary to continue to fund lifesaving research. The technology used to perform today’s surgeries on both children and adults continues to advance because of the funding given to research institutions all over the country. You can make an impact by helping us continue to power the life-saving research as well as education to raise awareness about heart and stroke right here in Iowa.

Hours after Addie Gralund was born, she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called truncus arteriosus. She was born with only three heart valves instead of four. The 17-year-old from Marion has undergone four open-heart surgeries, including three before she turned 3 years old. Artificial stents and valves in her pulmonary artery keep her blood pumping.

Addie’s heart works twice as hard as a typical heart. Breathing is difficult at times. But Addie doesn’t slow down. She wakes up every morning and lives her life to the fullest. She enjoys staying active by working out and has played club softball since she was 6. A junior in high school, Addie works at the local hospital and a long-term care facility. Her is to study medicine in college to give back to others just like her.

Addie is no stranger to the American Heart Association, previously serving as a national Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge ambassador and a Cedar Rapids Heart Ball ambassador.

We walk to save lives. We walk so kids like Addie can run.

It only takes a few steps to save lives like Jordan and Addie.

Sign up for the Heart Walk, step out, and share your personal why.​