I Walk for my Dad!
Despite the crazy times, I am excited to still be participating in this year’s Digital Puget Sound Heart and Stroke Walk.
My father is my why. He is the reason I chose to work for the American Heart Association and the reason that I am raising money for the same organization.
Four years ago, my father became a heart attack survivor and underwent a quadrupple bypass surgery. It was a terrifying time for my family. I have never been so grateful as when we wheeled him out of the hospital and took him home. This year has once again been a difficult time for my family. We worried for my father as news came out of the increased risk for mortal complications in individuals with preexisting heart conditions. Feelings that were worsened when my parents lost a friend to COVID-19, a friend who had undergone bypass surgery about the same time my father had.
Now more than ever we must support organizations like the American Heart Association which fund biomedical research. Already the AHA has established a $2.5 million rapid research fund to fast-track scientific research to better understand COVID-19 and its interaction with heart disease. Research that can save lives.
I want MANY years with my loved ones and I know that the American Heart Association is fighting to make that happen!