First Annual Temecula Valley Start! Heart Walk

First Annual Temecula Valley Start! Heart Walk

April 20,2011

I would like to announce something that is very near and dear to me personally, the First Annual Temecula Valley Start! Heart Walk. The reason this event means so much to me is because of my son Joey. My son’s story began a little over a year ago, on April 6th 2010 when my son went into cardiac arrest at the age of 18.

I had dropped Joey off at a local fitness center and ran an errand. As I was exiting the parking lot I saw emergency vehicles arriving at the gym. I did what any mother would have done. I ran inside. Joey had collapsed while working out on the elliptical machine. His life was saved by quick thinking bystanders who used CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED). By the time I got inside he was revived. It was hard to grasp what had happened.

At the hospital, one of the emergency personnel shared with me that printout from the AED confirmed that Joey’s heart had stopped. I called a friend in Boston who is an EMT and works in a trauma unit. I described what took place. It finally began to sink in for me after she calmly told me: "Penny, he died and they brought him back.” Joey was hospitalized and the tests confirmed that an irregular heartbeat had caused his cardiac arrest.

A defibrillator was implanted in his chest to regulate his heartbeat. Since then his pace maker has kicked in twice; once after surgery, and again in February when he collapsed at a friend’s house. His cardiologist has made some adjustments to the Defibrillator to start reporting at 150 beats now. It does not report if the pace maker kicks in though. As a result they think Joey has Sudden Death Syndrome. So at 19 he is considered a great “test case”. That obviously doesn’t sit well with me...          

The Start! Heart Walk raises money for lifesaving research and education programs for the American Heart Association. This community event will feature the following: 5K Fitness Walk - One Mile Survivor Route - One Mile Kids Fun Run - Health & Wellness Expo - Kids Zone - Survivor Lounge

Please visit www.temeculaheartwalk.kintera.org for more information and to get involved. It would mean so much to my family and to so many others...