GUEST COMMENTARY
By Christopher Sadler
Hingham, Mass.
On October 5, 2007, I carpooled to school with friends. They parked in the lot farthest away from our high school, which meant walking across a large field to reach the entrance. When we got to the end of the field, I suddenly felt a sensation that I had never felt before.
I was fading in and out of consciousness. I had tunnel vision. My pulse was barely existent.
The look in school nurse’s eyes told me something was seriously wrong. She called an ambulance. I was in heart failure.
When I was being wheeled in to the hospital for emergency heart surgery, my mom and I looked at each other and began to cry. We embraced, and she told me that everything was going to be OK. It’s a moment I’ll treasure forever.
After a month in the hospital – and two surgeries, including one to install a pacemaker/defibrillator device in my heart – I was sent home. My whole world had been turned upside down.
Although I can’t turn back time, I’m trying to make the best of what happened. By becoming more involved with the American Heart Association, it makes me feel that I’m doing something to help others.
My longevity is forever linked to the American Heart Association. The medical research they funded saved my life. And since my surgeries, the AHA has helped me make lifestyle changes that have added up to make a big difference in my health.
I hope my story will inspire you and others to contribute today so that heart patients like me can continue to survive and thrive.
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With a gift of $5,000 or more, you will join our philanthropic giving Cor Vitae Society, and receive 2 tickets to the Boston Heart & Stroke Ball on May 5th, 2018.
Thank you for your generosity, and we hope to see you on May 5th!