I walk because I know that we are saving lives, and I know that because the work at the American Heart Association helped save mine.
In 2007, my father passed away suddenly on New Year's Day from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. This was heartbreaking for my family and was completely unexpected. My father was only 55 years old. We later learned that he had a genetic condition called Marfan's Syndrome. This condition typically occurs in about 1 and 5000 births, but once in your family, it can be inherited. I learned a few years late in 2013 that I indeed had inherited the condition. This changed my life forever. Every six months I began getting scanned for aneurysms, and heart defects with the knowledge that one day I would have to have open heart surgery to repair it. That day came in September 2021. Fear, and panic were my first emotions. I'm still so young, what could happen? What would happen to my family? But through deep faith, and the support of friends, family, and my wonderful colleagues here at Jones, my confidence built. Then in November of 2021 while preparing for the surgery, in a 1 or 1000 complication, I had a stroke. Luckily, I was able to recover quickly and without long lasting side effects. I had my open heart surgery finally in July 2022 and with so many thanks to friends, colleagues, family, and the wonderful staff at Barnes Jewish hospital, I'm in the best shape of the last fifteen years.
Your donation will fund groundbreaking research that literally keeps hearts beating and helps people have longer, healthier lives.
Have a heart and help me reach my goal today.