When you touch the heart of one, you touch the heart of thousands

Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to speak to a group of students in the medical assisting program at Keiser University.  The class wasn’t huge, about 125 people, but what an extraordinary group of men and women.  As I stood at the podium in the front of the auditorium, I felt that every ounce of their attention was drawn to my story.  I made it a point to tell them that I wasn’t there to speak medical jargon; but instead I was there to share my real life experience and personal story of how an aneurysm effected my life and family.  It just so happened that this was the week they were studying the brain, so my story fit perfectly. The 45 minute talk covered everything from my childhood and growing up the daughter of a baseball player, the incredible relationship Dad and I shared, the last conversation we had the night before his aneurysm, the foundation, treatment, our mission and where we are today.  And I realized that when I opened my heart, they did too.  I was truly amazed at the number of people that shared their own stories of ones they had lost to an aneurysm.  In a room of 125 people, seven of them shared a story about a loved one they had lost to this silent killer (and that was just those that volunteered).  The ratio in the room became even more evident of why this funding is so vital.  If seven shared their story, imagine how many others have one but didn’t share???  I was honored to be a part of yesterday’s class and thank the staff and students for their full and undivided attention.  The more people we can reach, the more we can touch and yesterday, I know that I touched so many more than just the 125 in that room.  The future lies within us, so please continue to share this foundation, the mission and why we are joining in a crusade to fight these enemies we call aneurysms.

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