- Hello, I'm Nancy Brown,
CEO of the American Heart Association.
Our mission is to build healthier lives,
free of cardiovascular
diseases and stroke.
This single purpose drives all that we do.
With that in mind, I'm very
excited to share this video
with you as we celebrate
the 30th anniversary
of the Advocacy Department here at the
American Heart Association.
Over the last three decades,
the efforts of our ,"You're
the Cure" volunteer advocates,
staff and partners have brought
real and lasting change.
In this video, you'll hear
about these and other successes
directly from our volunteers.
Their stories, their
passion, and their commitment
to our mission keeps me
inspired every single day,
and I hope that these
stories will motivate you
and others to get more involved.
- [Voiceover] Heart disease
and stroke, you're the cure.
- [Voiceover] Heart disease
and stroke, you're the cure.
- [Voiceover] You're the cure.
- [Voiceover] You're the cure.
- [Voiceover] You're the cure.
- [Voiceover] You're the cure.
(light piano music)
- I have been involved
with the Heart Association
about 20 years.
- Eight years.
- Approximately five years.
- Since I was seven.
- I've been involved with the
American Heart Association
for over 25 years.
- I first started volunteering
with the Heart Association
back in the late 80's, early 90's.
- Long story short, April 22, 1998,
I had a stroke.
- On the evening of September 12, 1993,
when I suffered a massive heart attack.
- When my daughter was six-years-old,
on Friday, February 13, 2009,
she was in a gym class
at school in East Boston,
and she collapsed through
some cardiac arrest.
Luckily, she survived.
- I learned that I had a blood clot,
and it made my heart work
so much that it enlarged.
- When I was four years
old I had an ASC repair,
and that's a hole between
the upper two chambers.
- I first got involved with
the American Heart Association
after the death of my daughter.
She was 22 years old, and in March,
she was at our local gym
doing her daily routine,
and collapsed while
running on the treadmill.
- A key part of what the
American Heart Association does,
is to advocate for science and research in
cardiovascular medicine and biology.
- The Heart Association's
really the premier organization
in the country that's focused on improving
the heart health of our communities.
- I've never met a person who does not
know somebody that's been
effected by heart disease
or a stroke.
And obviously that's one of
the reasons why I go to work
every single day, is
to focus on prevention.
- Basically, what I did is
took this horrible nightmarish
thing that happened to me,
and tried to turn it into
something positive through advocacy.
- When the grassroots
efforts started to grow
with all the outpouring and support
in regards to Kayla's Law,
it really made me feel good,
like her death had a reason.
- Being a volunteer, it
gave me a new mission
and a new purpose in life.
- I speak for my daughter,
and I use the American Heart Association
to get her story out, and
to get her words across
to the people that matter, to
the people in the state house,
that we need to do something about it.
- There is no better example,
or no better person to tell
our Legislatures than somebody like me,
somebody who's actually
living with it every day.
- [Voiceover] The more
people that you have
speaking with the same
voice about the importance
of the prevention of heart disease,
about the importance
of supportive research
in cardiovascular medicine,
the more impact you're
going to have on our elected officials.
- [Voiceover] We doubled the NIH budget
between 1998 and 2003.
- [Voiceover] We stopped
smoking on airplanes.
- [Voiceover] We fought childhood obesity.
- [Voiceover] We increased
taxes on tobacco products.
- [Voiceover] Those a just a
few of our many success stories
- We all should be proud of those moments,
but we should also recognize
that we have a lot of work
ahead of us.
- If we can implement a
smoke-free law in North Carolina,
then I've just got to believe
that we can do it anywhere.
- Some of the things that I
have fought and advocated for
have came into law.
Just knowing that I played a part of that
was a great feeling.
- When somebody comes up to me and says,
"We've heard your story,
we've heard about Olivia,
"and we're taking action, we're
taking action in our town,
"we're taking action in our school."
That just gives me such
an enormous feeling of
gratitude toward the
American Heart Association.
- I think advocacy is
a wonderful way to get
your message out.
- So many people have
friends, family members,
or at least know someone
who's been a victim
of stroke or heart disease
or on their way there,
and it just seems like it
touches so many people.
That should be the #1 reason
why people should get involved.
- There's power in numbers,
and there's strength in unity.
And the American Heart
Association is one of those
partnerships, those
organizations that you can trust.
- The people I've met through
the Heart Association,
grassroots volunteers,
other science advocates,
it's just a real pleasure
to work with them,
and a privilege to get to know
them and to work with them
on advocacy and for
other community projects.
- I think she'd be
proud that with her name
and advocacy for the
American Heart Association,
knowing that she's saving lives,
I know she'd be so honored.
- So, on behalf of the
American Heart Association,
I want to thank you for all you have done,
and all you will continue to do.
- [Voiceover] Become an advocate with our,
"You're the Cure" network,
and help the American Heart Association
make the next 30 years
even better than the last.
Visit yourethecure.org
to join the movement.
