Heartsaver Hero Awards presented at Syracuse Heart Walk Kick-Off

During the 2016 Syracuse Heart Walk Kick Off Thursday evening, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association honored three people who helped save a life.

Heartsaver Hero Award winnersLast summer, Gordon Coville’s heart stopped while his wife Cathy was in the shower. Luckily, their normally quiet dog, Yahtzee, started barking, alerting Cathy that something was wrong. She came out to find Gordon on the floor. Cathy dialed 911, and called for family members Nichole McSweeney and Patricia Dausman, who were downstairs. Both women had both learned CPR years before. McSweeney learned it in health class at school, well before it became a graduation requirement. The skills came back quickly for both of them. They started CPR on Gordon and didn’t stop until the ambulance arrived. Because of the quick action from all three women, Gordon Coville is still alive today.

“I owe my life to Cathy, Nikki, and Patty,” said Gordon Coville. “Without their quick work calling 911 and starting CPR, I may not have made it until the EMTs arrived.” Cathy Coville, Nichole McSweeney and Patricia Dausman were all presented with Heartsaver Hero Awards. The awards are sponsored by Welch Allyn.

Before the awards presentation, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association officially kicked off the 2016 Syracuse Heart Walk season. Volunteers, team captains, heart survivors and corporate donors came together Thursday evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Syracuse to launch this year’s event. The Heart Walk is scheduled for Saturday, April 2, 2016 at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College. The fundraising goal for this year’s event is $570,000.

Local sponsors include presenting sponsor OBG, major sponsors Anchor QEA and IBEW/NECA, and additional sponsors FamilyCare Medical Group, HealtheConnections, Upstate Medical University, Welch Allyn, Wegmans, AmeriCU Credit Union, Crouse Hospital, Dannible & McKee, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and St. Joseph’s Health. The Heart Walk is sponsored nationally by SUBWAY® Restaurants. Media sponsors are B104.7, NewsChannel 9 and the Business Journal News Network. This year’s Heart Walk chairman is Jim Fox, CEO and Chairman of the Board at OBG.

Highlights from Thursday evening’s kick-off include:

  • Registration is now open for the Syracuse Heart Walk on April 2nd – participants and teams can register at syracuseheartwalk.org.
  • Nominations are now being accepted for the Lifestyle Change Award, sponsored by FamilyCare Medical Group. The award recognizes people who have made significant, positive changes for their heart health. Nomination forms are available by emailing [email protected].
  • This year’s Inspirational Honorees, Duane Wiedor and Ed Powers, were introduced. Duane was born with a congenital heart defect and Ed is a stroke survivor.
  • Follow along throughout the 2016 Syracuse Heart Walk season on social media with #SyrHeartWalk on Twitter at @HeartCNY and Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanHeartNewYork.

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