Knights join in walk to end heart disease

Surrounded by a sea of red cap heart disease survivors, 32 UCF teams joined together with other members of the community Saturday in a walk to end heart disease at this year's Greater Orlando Heart Walk, sponsored by the American Heart Association.

The AHA is the largest voluntary health organization working to prevent, treat and defeat heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. These diseases, the nation's top killers, claim more than 865,000 American lives a year.

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"This is an event that is raising money for research for a disease that is likely to touch members of the UCF community, their family or close friends and by participating in the event, you are helping to diminish cardiovascular disease," Tony Waldrop, UCF provost and executive vice president, said.

There are 451 heart walks nationwide, but the Greater Orlando Heart Walk located around Loch Haven Park is the largest, with more than 16,000 participants raising the most funds for heart disease.

There were two routes available for walkers: one 3.1-mile walk and a 1-mile walk for survivors, who were given red caps to symbolize their strength as a heart disease survivor.

Among the thousands who raised money for the cause, UCF was the fifth largest company contributor. The 462 participating Knights who participated surpassed their goal of $30,000 by more than $7,000.

"My team and I are thrilled that together UCF was able to reach its goal, because we all hope to see a cure and other beneficial factors progress in the future for heart disease," said senior finance major and project chair of UCF's president leadership council, Adam Straka "We hope that by promoting awareness it will save lives in the future."

Sarah Barr, senior event management major and AHA heart walk intern who has helped with the logistics of the walk, raising donations and working with peers to spread awareness, is also proud to have helped bring awareness to the community.

"This walk is really important because being there, you get to see all these survivors and hear their stories and their positive attitude makes you want to be proactive," said Barr. "It brightens your horizons and hopefully it will instill in the people who participated to make healthier lifestyle choices so this disease does not take them."

With the community's help, AHA was able to raise $1.1 million to be used for research on detecting and treating heart disease and with getting life-saving information to those who need it most, as well as education.

Half of the money raised will be dispersed to UCF, Florida Hospital and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute for research and educational purposes, while the other half will go to the national AHA center.

"We are thrilled that the community supports this walk as much as they do and they are the reason that we are able to advance our research and education about this disease," said Nancy Devault, director of communications of the AHA and the American Stroke Association.

Devault lost her father unexpectedly to heart disease when she was 14 years old and ever since, she has been an activist in spreading the word about heart disease.

"Losing my father has made me so dedicated to this organization and to want to educate people on how to live a healthier lifestyle so they do not become a victim of this disease and I am so thankful for everyone who came out to the event to spread awareness of this deadly disease."