Written by Douglas Tapking
It was my pleasure to participate in this year’s You’re the Cure on the Hill in Washington D.C.
As a recent survivor of a stroke, I was able to share my stroke story and rapid recovery with staff members of both the U.S. House and Senate as we lobbied for changes in health care relating to cardiovascular rehabilitation, Telestroke and NIH funding. It was amazing to be in Washington with over 300 advocates from across the United States as Congress debated affordable health care.
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The team from Utah consisted of, Dr. Lee Chung, University of Utah Health Care Neurosciences Center, Marc Watterson, American Heart Association Government Relations Director and myself Douglas Tapking, Retired.
The training preparing the participants for their time advocating was educational, invigorating, and inspiring! As we shared our stories of strokes and heart attacks, I came to realize how dedicated these people were in their roles as advocates and in demonstrating there is life after heart attack and/or stroke. Our goal, our mission was clear. We survived; let’s find a cure and effective treatment for these #1 and #5 killers in America!
We met with representatives from all of our House and Senate offices. We spoke seriously of the needs, the statistics of these killers and how they could help. They asked good questions; most we could answer, some required additional follow-up.
We left feeling that our time was well spent, that we had made our case.
Again, I am proud of the work we did on Capitol Hill. I look forward to helping again in the future!
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