Tomorrow I will wear red.  And it will be tricky, because I own nothing red in my maternity wardrobe, nor do I fit into anything NON-maternity, but I will figure something out because it is that important to me.

I will wear read because heart disease kills people every. single. day.  My sister didn't have heart disease, but she had a faulty heart.  At least THAT day she did.  THAT day, for whatever reason, her heart stopped beating in that "lub dub" pattern most are familiar with, and took on a beat of it's own.  A beat that does not sustain life, causing her to collapse.  A beat that doesn't convert back into a normal "lub dub" rhythm and instead tuckers out and that is when death arrives.  Her heart was "assisted" to beat, whatever rhythm that would be, because people were pounding on her chest as they did CPR.  A crazy, sporadic beating heart is better than a non-beating heart.  That carried on until first responders could deliver high voltage shocks.  Two, to be exact, before she would start breathing on her own, and it has ever since that horrible day.

AED's don't just appear.  They are costly.  CPR and ACLS training isn't something you just learn through life experiences... you are TRAINED in them.  You do it the wrong way, it doesn't work.  It takes skill.  All of the specialty physician's involved in her care (which also included neurology due to the anoxic brain injury she had.  Has.) weren't just born with their knowledge, it took time, lessons, experiences, research.  All of which comes from raising awareness and funding.

Which brings you to my third year "Going Red" for my sister.  "Going red" for you, your mom, dad, brother, daughter, son, friend.  "Going red" because if you had told me September 19, 2010 what was going to happen on September 20, 2010, I would have said, "Are you crazy??" "Going red" because over 90% of the other people out there who will suffer sudden cardiac arrest like my sister did, will not still be on this Earth just over 2 years later to share her story and experiences.

My sister lived, and we thank God every day that people were "going red" long before we even knew what it meant.

Tomorrow I'll put together my Heart Walk donation page and we will continue to push for what OUR hearts know is so important.

Want to go red, too?