In a heartbeat, you could be the difference.

9 out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital don’t survive. Most of the time, it’s because no one nearby performed CPR. But together, we can change that.

Unfortunately, my dad suffered a heart attack and did not survive. He was only 48 and was home alone when it happened. I recently turned 47 and feel the magnitude of how young he was when he passed. Were there signs that could have helped prevent the attack?  These are things I think of often. Spreading awareness and education is important to me and I am passionate about what the American Heart Association is doing within our community. 

Raising awareness is important to me so I will share a personal story with you.  I have been an avid runner since high school.  My heart would often start racing really fast and I just thought that I was just not in as good of shape or needed to train harder.  I continued running after high school and my heart will still have episodes of beating rapidly. After my dad passed away, I decided I wanted to run a half marathon.  I thought that I should get my heart checked out.  I am thankful that I did.  I found out that I had atrial fibrillation.  The electrical portion of my heart was not working properly. I needed to have an ablation to fix it.  After two ablations I am running without issue and have run thousands of miles since then.  

My message to you is to not put your health off and make it a priority! If something does not feel right, please talk about it with your health care provider.  

Extraordinary things happen when people take action. A small step. A simple skill. A lifesaving moment. Heart Walk brings communities together to create health and hope for every heartbeat. Every walker who joins, every dollar donated, means more people trained in CPR, more research and more lifesaving moments for everyone.  

Extraordinary starts with YOU. Help me reach my goal today!