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| NewsSaturday, September 22, 2007 9:30 PM CDT |
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Survival or loss of relative spurs new awareness for walkers
NORMAL — Ken Easton died a year ago of a heart attack, but his memory was alive Saturday as 75 friends and family members sporting T-shirts with his photo participated in the McLean County Start! Heart Walk. | Photo gallery More than 700 participants put their hearts and soles into the annual fundraising event that kicked off from The Shoppes at College Hills. The local event has raised about $600,000 since 2000 for the American Heart Association for research and community-education programs. Illinois State University received one of the association’s grants for cardiovascular research, said AHA’s Kelly Thompson. Easton’s massive heart attack at age 45 has changed the way members of his family look after their health. “You try not to panic, but you have to be realistic,” said Beth Peterson, who attended the walk with Easton’s other sister, Susie Dodson, and a crowd of other relatives. Careful monitoring of blood pressure and heart scans are now part of the health regimen for the Easton family, she said. Following the Heart Walk, the Pontiac man’s friends and family planned to meet at a park to visit and share lunch. The walk in memory of Easton may become an annual event. “We’re going to make it a really fun, happy day in our brother’s honor,” said Peterson. Research to prevent heart disease is a matter of life and death, according to Thompson. She noted that 35.3 percent of all deaths in McLean County in 2004 were attributed to heart disease and stroke. Paul Laube inspired the crowd Saturday with his story of survival. “We are all one heartbeat away from not being here today,” said the 56-year-old Bloomington survivor. Laube recounted his experience of returning from a workout at a gym in May 2006 and feeling tightness in his chest as he stepped into the shower. “I thought I had a pulled muscle, but I had the classic symptoms of a heart attack,” said Laube. The financial adviser said he did not consider himself at risk for a heart attack. He exercised, did not carry excess weight and was not a smoker. “But you can’t tell what’s going on in the inside,” Laube told the Heart Walk participants. The heart association collected about $75,000 Saturday toward its $100,000 goal, but several thousand dollars more is expected to be turned in over the next several weeks. Last year, $82,000 was raised through the Heart Walk. Mended Hearts of Bloomington-Normal, a local group that works with heart patients and their families, was the top donor Saturday with $11,000. The group has raised more than $105,000 over the past 12 years for the association, according to Thompson. Walkers in Saturday’s event could complete a 1.5- or 3-mile course. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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