The Broward Heart Walk is back and there is still time to register and participate. NBC 6’s Victor Jorges has the details.
Hundreds of people gathered and walked to raise awareness about cardiac health at the 2023 Broward Heart Walk.
One of the many people participating was Tyler Cohen, a brave young man who had open heart surgery eight months ago.
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WATCH HEREHe walked to prove an important message.
“Nobody's alone,” he told NBC 6. “Everyone has something. No one's personal that you always go through something and you shouldn't be scared at all.”
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He’s a wise young man who, ever since he was born, has had cardiac issues. His mother, Vanessa Cohen, told NBC 6 what doctors found when he was just a toddler.
“At his two year physical, the doctor noticed there was an irregular heart rhythm within the heart,” she said. “And that is when our journey started seeing a cardiologist. At that point, we discovered Tyler had a condition called subaortic stenosis, a narrowing in the aortic valve.”
Now Tyler is doing well, and can’t wait to start playing basketball again, like he used to before his surgery.
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“Everything's good,” he said. “I recovered perfectly fine and I'm getting stronger by the day.”
Just like Tyler, hundreds of people came out to the annual event to have the important conversation about keeping your heart healthy.
“It could happen any time to anyone,” said Michelle Reyes, a participant with Memorial Healthcare System. “ And you could be, you know, the very person who would be able to help a bystander. And it's important to recognize symptoms and to act fast. Time is of the essence in order to save that person's life.”
There’s also a new collaboration hoping to save lives in our community.
The American Heart Association has partnered up with Rick Case to teach high school students the importance of knowing CPR.
“It's been proven that the CPR skill does save lives,” said Rita Case. “So, if we can have a bunch of high school kids out there that know how to use CPR, we're going to save lives in our community.”
The event raised more than $1.2 million.
