Sure,
Saturday's Heart Walk was about raising money, but for Amy Frank of
Quincy, it's personal.
As
she stood in Battle Creek's Lakeview Square mall, Frank looked at
pictures of heart patients she knew, some of whom have died.
On the wall was a picture of her own daughter, Halle, born 21/2 years
ago.
"The
doctors told me that the baby I was carrying had so many heart defects
that it was not compatible with life," she said. "She had
six different heart defects, including missing the right side of her
heart. They had given me the option of terminating the pregnancy but
if not, they said she would only live a couple of hours.
"God
had a different plan. She has a heart defect but they forgot to tell
her."
As
Frank talked about heart disease, her daughter, smiling and chattering,
waited nearby, chewing a piece of gum.
Halle
Frank has had three open-heart surgeries — the first, seven days after
birth — and someday she will need a heart transplant.
"As
a mother, there is so much I can't do," Frank said, referring
to medical treatments. "I can't make the research go faster.
But at least doing this, I am doing something for her."
Amy
and Halle Frank were among the 150 people who walked a couple of laps
around the mall Saturday morning for the American Heart Association's
Southwest Michigan Heart Walk.
This
year is the 12th year for Heart Walks in the United States but the
first time in Battle Creek.
In
the past, participants went to the Kalamazoo area— and there was an
event Saturday at the Crossroads Mall in Portage — but Sedgwick Harris,
admissions director at Kellogg Community College and the Battle Creek
event chairman said the number of Battle Creek area residents had
grown enough to have a site here.
"We
made it easier for you to get up today instead of trucking all the
way to Kalamazoo," he told the crowd before the walk started.
Organizers
are hoping walkers in Battle Creek and Portage will raise $100,000
in pledges for heart disease research, said Dana Zarzycki, executive
director of the Grand Rapids office of the American Heart Association.
Totals were not available Saturday.
Among
those raising money were 13 descendants of Rena McClure of Athens,
who died of a stroke at the age of 77 in 2005.
"She
passed away a year ago today," said her granddaughter, Katie
McClure of Battle Creek. So family members were wearing identical
T-shirts as they walked in her honor, and raised $1,030 in pledges.
"We
are here because the date was obvious," Katie McClure said. "And
heart disease tends to be in our family."
Her
father has suffered a heart attack and an uncle has a transplanted
heart.
"So
it makes sense to walk for the cause," she said.
Another
participant, Eddie Abercrombie, 13, helped cut the ribbon to begin
the walk.
His
mother, Shannon, said the Pennfield seventh-grader was born with a
heart that is "upside down, backwards, and missing some parts."
He has already had seven heart surgeries and will need a heart and
lung transplant.
She
said while the money is important, raising awareness is critical,
since heart disease remains the number one killer of Americans.
And
like Amy Frank, Shannon Abercrombie said she never knew heart disease
affected so many young people.
"I
always assumed it was people who were smoking or were overweight,"
she said. "But not a child."
Trace
Christenson can be reached at 966-0685 or tchrist@battlecr.gannett.com.
Originally
published February 19, 2006
