We are excited for you to meet one of our top advocates from Georgia, Suhaas Reddy Bonkur and learn what motivates him as an advocate.

Sreyas Yennampelli is a senior Emory University undergraduate double majoring in neuroscience and political philosophy. Along with future career aspirations in medicine, he is interested in the relationship between healthcare and policy. Sreyas is passionate about advocating for those who must have their voice heard and ultimately promoting change, often by empowering the youth of his community through organizations like Pill Policy and Volunteer Emory.

On October 28th, 2022, I had the great honor of representing the American Heart Association as an invited speaker for the “Yes on 31” press conference in Oakland, California.

Catherine Czaja didn’t expect her life to take the trajectory it has.

When Tucker Varns was 3 days old his parents rushed him to the emergency room. After hours of tests in their hometown in South Dakota, they found out that Tucker was born without his lower left ventricle of his heart. He had his first heart surgery when he was 11 days old, and since then he has had 11 surgeries, including a full heart transplant when he was 21. Now this family are leading the way and sharing their story to expand Medicaid in South Dakota.

It’s amazing how one moment can change the trajectory of your life. For Steve Hilfiker of Florida, it happened in 2019 when he received an unexpected diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis, commonly described as the heart turning to stone.

Advocates who have seen firsthand the impacts of heart health play a key role in demonstrating the impacts of policies which support longer, healthier lives.

It was a bright and sunny morning at my children’s elementary school here in San Diego, California. As was the custom, many parents, myself included, were rushing to drop off their kids, give them a hug and a kiss, and wish them a great day. I revel in embarrassing my son and daughter, as any good dad would, and yelled to them as they entered the gate “Make good choices!”. They acted as if they didn’t know who I was and proceeded on their way, but I know that they knew what that meant.

As I was walking back to my car, most of the parking lot had cleared out. Ben, an older gentleman, chronic smoker, and grandfather to my daughter’s friend, was ambling back to his grey pickup and began to stumble. Within a few short seconds, he collapsed. I ran over and caught him as he fell. He looked pale and grey, and was unresponsive to my questions. His breathing was erratic and shallow.

American Heart Association advocate Jaelene Luper is an Instructor for the National Cheerleaders Association and a face you may have seen on the Netflix docuseries, "Cheer."

The physicians said during my first of five brain surgeries that it was unlikely that I would survive, and if I did, I likely would not be able to speak, move, read, or write ever again.