As many of you probably know from prior mentions in the Causeway, October 7th was the Mason Dixon Heart Walk at Antrim Township Community Park. The Heart Walk is an annual fundraiser for the American Heart Association, but also serves to promote fun ways to be physically active and make healthier choices.

 

What you may not realize is that the Young Lawyers Division has been participating in the Heart Walk each year since 2008. This means the Heart Walk is currently the charity event with which the YLD has the longest-standing tradition. Our 2018 Heart Walk team raised $2,310 for this worthy cause. The grand total of all funds raised by our Heart Walk team since 2008 is $19,033.

 

I am thankful to be part of this group and to be raising money for this cause. I joined our Heart Walk team after hearing some of the statistics about heart disease in our country. I learned that someone in the United States dies from cardiovascular disease every 38 seconds; that is over 2,000 people per day and over 800,000 people each year. Cardiovascular disease accounts for about 1 out of every 3 deaths in the United States. Heart disease is the number one killer worldwide. However, cardiovascular disease is largely impacted by personal choices we make and our cardiovascular health can be improved by what the AHA calls Life's Simple 7. Life's Simple 7 are: not-smoking, physical activity, healthy diet, body weight, and control of cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar. I wanted to do my part in sharing this information and helping improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans, so I joined our team and began Heart Walking.

 

Knowing why I participate, this year, I took the time to speak with the walkers of our team to find out why they participated in the event. I hope that you all are inspired to join our team in 2019, whether as a walker or by making a donating.

 

Amelia Ambrose has walked for the past two years. She also helps organize the team and sends out requests for donations to the Bar. Amelia informed me that she walks because she enjoys supporting the team. She believes the information that the AHA gives people is super important. "Learning how to take care of yourself is important. Heart disease affects everyone. We should all work towards becoming a better, healthier version of ourselves."

 

Beverly Doneker told me that she walked this year in memory of her husband and her father, both of whom lived with heart disease for many years.  "My previous career as a nurse taught me that heart disease takes many forms, affecting infants, teens, and adults. It is important to contribute to research so effective treatments can be offered and those living with heart disease may have healthier, more productive lives. I enjoyed walking with some familiar team members and spending time getting to know other team members."

 

Krystal MacIntrye is the Community Outreach Chair for the YLD and was in charge of our team.  Krystal is proud to be a part of our team and to be supporting such a great cause. Krystal is inspired by the efforts of her fellow team members, both those that walk and those that donate. She reminded me that our 2018 fundraising goal was $1,500 which we far exceeded. Even more impressive was our fundraising efforts compared to other companies and organization. Krystal informed me that w e were the 4th top fundraising team for the Mason Dixon Heart Walk, coming in behind JLG, CITI, and Shippensburg University.  In her words, "For our comparatively small size, I consider this to be a great accomplishment!  We are small but mighty!  Thank you again to everyone who participated, and I hope that we will have continued success with next year's event."

 

Along the same lines, I'd be remise if I didn't highlight the impressive efforts of individual members of our team - we had two members of our team make the list of the top four individual fundraisers! In third place, was Krsytal MacIntrye who raised $615. And, out of all the individuals that participated across all the companies and organizations, Emma Hamilton (daughter of Kristen Hamilton) came in second place by raising $865!

 

Speaking of the Hamiltons, Kristen Hamilton told me that her family has participated in the Heart Walk each year since the YLD has become active. "Last year it was obviously something that hit very close to home for Franklin County YLD with the loss of Kelly High.  Heart disease also runs in our family and has impacted so many people close to us."

 

However this year, Kristen and her family felt the impact of heart disease right in their own home. "This year we had already signed up to walk when I got the call from Chambersburg Hospital that my husband, Tyler, needed an immediate quadruple bypass after what should have been a routine stress test. It was the shock of a lifetime but was absolutely a blessing in disguise, as in talking with the surgeon, Tyler likely would not have survived a massive heart attack. We had no idea. We would later find out that there were several high-percentage blockages and his heart showed signs of previous damage from a silent cardiac event."

 

"I can't even begin to say how much cardiovascular knowledge and medicine has been advanced because of the money raised American Heart Association. The sheer number of families in the waiting room (three of which were from Franklin County!) was astonishing. Some waiting for a heart transplant, some waiting for surgeries like Tyler - it was astounding. I am happy to report Tyler is back up on his feet and so quickly, too - walking the long loop of the Heart Walk about 3 weeks after his surgery! The things these surgical teams can do with the advances in medicine are incredible and no doubt helped save Tyler."

 

With the shock waves running through the family, Kristen's daughter, Emma, (a regular member of our team) undertook her impressive fundraising efforts. "Emma was so excited to be able to walk to begin with, but walking for (and with) her Dad made this year particularly special. We can't thank everyone enough for their support of this cause, whether they donated or walked. I know that this is something that touches the lives of so many people so every penny counts. I am so proud of Franklin County YLD for continuing these amazing efforts for such a worthy cause."