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Kelly Manz, Missouri Chloe's Law, named after Kelly Manz’s daughter, will finally reach the Governor’s desk in 2013! Kelly has worked long and hard to ensure that all Missouri hospitals will be required to screen newborn babies for congenital heart defects with Pulse Oximetry before...

Arden and Linda Warner North Dakota Arden Warner, Rugby, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while entering a local business. The heroic efforts of an off duty EMT and a county Deputy/EMT saved the 63-year-old man’s life. Warner's wife, Linda, has been a You're the Cure Advocate with...

Tonya Kraft South Dakota I lost my mother on June 6 th , 2002, to a massive heart attack. She was just 53 years old. It wasn’t just the loss of my mother; it was the realization that there was a genetic issue that could not be hidden anymore. My mothers’ mother and grandmother both passed...

Michele Beck Glen Ellyn, IL When I was 33 years old, I went to see my doctor and told her that I had pains in my chest and shortness of breath. I am a petite woman and was thin and young. Therefore, my doctor didn't run one heart test. I continued to see her off and on for one more year. Then...

Janine Krolikowski Michigan As an Echocardiographer, I knew all about the heart and heart disease. I knew all about the heart and heart disease. I worked as an Echocardiographer (heart ultrasound technician) for many years and I lost both of my parents to heart disease at a young age. Despite my...

Ginny Curley Nebraska At 6am on Monday, July 12, 2010, my husband awoke to hear me gasping for breath. When he tried to wake me, I stopped breathing. As a healthy 42 year-old, I never expected he would have to save my life. Thanks to my husband’s training in CPR and the calm reassurance of the...

Barb Miller Nebraska My father is a survivor. My grandmother was not. These two facts have fueled my passion for the American Heart Association for over 20 years. I became a volunteer after my dad - already a quadruple bypass veteran - received a heart stent. American Heart Association-funded research...

Kimara Ellefson Wisconsin They told me that I would not survive to see my 30th birthday. When they found my heart defect in my early twenties, they told me that I would not survive to see my 30th birthday. Today, I am 38. That's eight years of life that are a gift thanks to the amazing research...

Kyler Nixon Council Bluffs It doesn’t get any more personal for Jenny Nixon after working over 10 years for the American Heart Association. In February 2012 her son Kyler’s active life of sports was quickly put to a halt after an MRI showed abnormal thickness in the left ventricle of his...

Kay Nicholas Michigan I am living my best dream! At a time when everyone said I had every right to feel weak, I found my strength. At 50 I laid on a floor as CPR was being performed on me. I have suffered a massive heart attack, 2 aortal bypasses, and was close to losing my legs and kidneys. It...

Wanda McQuiston Wisconsin My story... My name is Wanda McQuiston. In July of 2002, I was waiting for my bus with my husband, but plans changed. I experienced sudden cardiac arrest while at the bus stop. Luckily, someone who was with us dialed 911 and an ambulance came right away. At the hospital...

Lynn Paulson South Dakota For two years, I played a dangerous game with my heart. I kept experiencing a racing heart and shortness of breath episodes that lasted a few minutes at a time. With my busy work and travel schedule, I just chalked it up to normal anxiety and stress, but when my symptoms...

Michelle Demeuse Wisconsin My Story... I was in the eighth grade and was sitting at home doing homework and watching my mother make fried chicken. I had watched her paced back and forth from the kitchen to the bathroom and finally into our formal living room where she was holding her left arm,...

Heather Boehlke Wisconsin My world turned wrong side up. The morning of February 25th, 2009, the day after my 24th birthday, my world turned wrong side up. I couldn’t see straight, I was so dizzy that I couldn’t think, and I was vomiting with each movement. I was rushed by ambulance...

Ruby Foster Michigan I am a 65 year old woman living with heart disease. My heart disease is a result of family history along with uncontrolled hypertension. I have lived through bypass surgery and have a pace maker. I have also survived eleven strokes, and have a blood clot on the wall of my heart...

Michele Block Wisconsin Heart disease is a part of my family. My name is Michele. I have two girls ages 11 and 6. Why do I volunteer for the American Heart Association? I never want my girls to ever have to hear that I should be dead. Those are the words my mother heard from the surgeon who was...

Lori Haehle Wisconsin My heart attack. Four years ago, at the age of 52, I had a heart attack. A lot has changed in the past four years and because of that, I have a whole new perspective on life. To begin, I struggled when I came home from the hospital. I was upset, shocked, and saddened when...

Melanie Moody Wisconsin "If you would have waited a few more hours your son would not be with you today." These were the words we were told from Aiden’s surgeon on February 19th, 2007. Aiden was born 5 weeks earlier. The doctor had mentioned to us that Aiden had a heart murmur,...

Amy Basken Wisconsin My third child was born with a broken heart. Literally. We didn't find out until it was almost too late. Nicholas was born happy and healthy and looked great - we were preparing for a normal discharge home. However, a newborn screen of his heart function was a little "off"...

Myanna Gee Wisconsin March 3, 2009 changed my life forever. That was the day when my mother suffered from Sudden Cardiac Arrest. It took place at a mall in Glendale, Wisconsin, which was one of her favorite places to go walking. You see, mom practiced a healthy lifestyle. She ate healthy, and would...

K.C. Sanders Michigan I thought it was just another migraine. Not this time. I went immediately to the emergency room. The doctors recognized that I'd had a stroke. I thought to myself "36 year old women can't have strokes"... I spent 42 days in the ICU, then 7 months of physical...

Jimmy Leiter Deerfield, IL I was getting ready to play football during my senior year of high school. I had to see my family doctor to get my physical done, and because of a heart murmur and some other heart issues from when I was younger, the doctor insisted I get an echo. He told me that he wouldn't...

David Barkley Danville, IN On October 22, 2011, David experienced a heart attack caused by a 100 percent blockage of the Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery of his heart. This type of cardiac event is nicknamed the “widow maker” because blockage of this artery is often associated with...

Beverly Goff Fort Wayne, IN In July, 2011, I was invited to a “Go Red for Women” American Heart Association breakfast and decided to take a van full of business associates. During this breakfast I knew this was invitation was purposeful and not a chance encounter. As three women stood...

Amber Strobel Evansville, IN I remember like it was yesterday, I had gotten home from practice earlier that evening. My mom picked me up in the back of the school like she always had and we headed home to see my brand new niece Morgan Elizabeth. As I looked at my Mom, holding her new grandchild, she...