I'm so excited you've decided to support the American Heart Association!

Consider this:

3,000 Americans have heart attacks every day, 40 percent of which are fatal. Those who survive often go on to have another heart attack in the following years. Nearly 2,600 Americans die of some type of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease caused by blockages in the arteries to the kidney every twenty-four hours; this means one death every 34 seconds.

As an aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon I find this to be incredibly disturbing.

My own father, at the very young age of 40, had a heart attack after leading the life of an Army infantryman, running marathons/working out daily, having never smoked, and eating a fairly healthy diet. Technically, my father did everything right, and because of his healthy habits, luckily, lived to tell the tale.

Needless to say, this incident devastated my family, and my father has never really been the same since.  It was the event that led me to decide I would most definitely pursue medicine as a career.

No one is immune to heart disease.

If you are unable to contribute monetarily at this time, please do forward this to any and all people that you know, whether or not they can even donate.

Someone will eventually be able to, and the message will have been spread far and wide along the way, which is most important.

Thank you for sharing this concern, and take care of your hearts, too!

Much Love --

Tasha