Annual Heart Walk planned at YSU

Photo

Front from left, Alyson Smith, this year’s Heart Child, and her sister, Emilee, stand in front of their parents, Kevin and Kathy Keaggy Smith. The Smiths will participate in the 2011 Heart Walk Sept. 17 at Youngstown State University. This year’s walk chairman is Wes Prout, center; and emcee is Thomas John Meister of Clear Channel Radio, Youngstown. At right is Theresa Weakley, news anchor for WKBN 27 First News, one of this year’s Walk media sponsors.

YOUNGSTOWN

Thousands of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana county residents will celebrate life, remember loved ones and raise funds for the American heart Association on Sept 17 at the 2011 Heart Walk at the Watson and Tressel Training Site at Youngstown State University.

The money raised to battle America’s No. 1 and 3 killers, cardiovascular disease and stroke, will fund life-saving research and education programs throughout the country aimed at reducing the risk for those life-changing health conditions that kill more than 900,000 Americans annually.

Participants will be able to take advantage of health screenings, educational information and activities for children. Registration begins at 9 a.m., and the walk begins at 10:10.

Wesley Prout, president of Prout Boiler Heating and Welding, is this year’s walk chairman. Participants will include 7-year-old Alyson Smith, the 2011 Youngstown Area Heart Walk Heart Child, and her family. Alyson was diagnosed with aortic stenosis when she was just a year old. The membrane under her aorta was restricting the blood flow to the rest of her body. A five-hour, open-heart surgery June 15, 2010, corrected the condition.

Sponsors for this year’s walk include St. Elizabeth Heart & Vascular Center, ValleyCare Health System, Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley — The Heart Center, Boardman Medical Supply, Prout Boiler and Warren Fabricating. This year’s media sponsors are WKBN, WYTV, WBBG 106.1 FM and Armstrong Cable. Subway and Walmart are the national sponsors.

The Heart Walk also encourages the community to take steps toward a healthier lifestyle by incorporating physical activity into their lives. As part of that effort, the American Heart Association honors community members with Lifestyle Change Awards for those who have made significant strides in improving their eating habits and cholesterol levels, lowering blood pressure and increasing their physical activity. Nominees are being accepted; call Heart Walk director Allison Oltmann at 330-318-1002.

Those attending the Heart Walk can honor loved ones lost to cardiovascular disease or stroke, and survivors at the event will receive red caps in honor of their accomplishments.

Across the U.S., more than 1.5 million people will participate in Heart Walk events at more than 500 locations. The Heart Walk has raised about $600 million nationwide since it was launched in 1994.

Research funded by the Heart Walk and other American heart Association events has yielded major advances such as the heart-lung machine, CPR, life-extending drugs, pacemakers, bypass surgery and a variety of surgical techniques to repair heart defects.

For more information about the Youngstown Area walk, call 330-318-1002.