in your arm your nurse enters your room
ready to give your echocardiogram who
among us would like to find themselves
in this situation exactly what I thought
none of you unfortunately forty-eight
percent of women and forty six percent
of men have heart conditions and
occasionally have to go through this
however eighty percent of these
conditions are preventable preventing a
heart condition is very simple all you
need to do is stay as active and as
healthy as possible there are many ways
to stay healthy some are exercising
daily eating healthy avoiding heavy
drinking and smoking Robert Urich was an
actor and producer in the 1970s and he
says a healthy outside starts from the
inside I had a heart complication when I
was younger and now I have been inspired
to stay healthy my complication was a
birth defect there was nothing I could
do to prevent it however now heart
health is very important to me and I
will do my very best to prevent any
other heart problems in the future I’m
very fortunate to be healthy now and
have no additional problems I have
danced to thank for being healthy dance
is how I stay active I dance almost
every day of the week for at least two
hours a day now I’m not saying that
everybody should exercise for two hours
a day all I’m saying is that just by
simply walking around your neighborhood
once a day can prevent heart disease 1.5
million Americans die every year of
heart attacks cardiovascular disease is
actually the leading cause of death in
the United States yet most people don’t
know that just by simply walking around
your neighborhood once a day you can
prevent heart attacks and other heart
related deaths and diseases when I was
two days old I had open-heart surgery to
repair my aortic arch you’re probably
wondering what the aortic arch is it is
one of the main arteries in your body
and it supplies oxygenated blood to the
circulatory system to keep the heart
functioning it is shaped like a candy
cane and it is the tubes that the blood
can flow through to your heart the
reason I had to have surgery was because
mine was collapsed and the blood wasn’t
able to flow through I’m very lucky
because this heart case is often
associated with chromosomal disorders
like Down syndrome and Turner
and I did not have either I’m also lucky
that the only restrictions i have now
are heavy weight lifting pull-ups and
straining exercises like that
fortunately my parents who this was a
problem before I was born they were able
to get me to a hospital that specializes
in hearts I was born at the Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital for the first few
days of my life I was put on machine so
that I could eat drink and breathe they
repaired my heart with raincoat material
and the tissue from a dead person the
raincoat material has grown with me so I
haven’t had to have surgery again
however when I much older I might have
to have surgery until then I would do my
very best to prevent any other heart
problems they scar on my chest is a
constant reminder that our health is a
big part of living a strong and healthy
life since I was only two days old when
I had my surgery I wasn’t nervous before
or after the surgery because I didn’t
know it was like what was going on if I
were to have surgery now at the age of
12 i’m most likely worried about the
surgery going well in the long recovery
after and all those words are not
healthy why would anyone not want to do
everything they can to stay healthy even
though I was so young when I had my
surgery it still affects my life now
once every year I have to see a
cardiologist for an EKG echo cardiogram
and clinical exam there are also some
restrictions as I said earlier I’m not
telling you all this you feel bad for me
I’m telling you this because I want to
inspire you all to live a healthy
lifestyle through my own experiences why
wouldn’t you anyway it’s so simple just
by simply staying active walking eating
healthy avoiding heavy drinking and
smoking you can prevent heart attack
heart disease and stroke which can lead
to difficulty speaking and more long
term severe complications also obesity
is often associated with chromosome with
cardiovascular disease obesity is
becoming a huge problem in America
resulting in three hundred thousand
American deaths a year that is a lot
especially considering there’s so much
to do to prevent these problems it has
been almost 13 years since I had my
surgery and by living this healthy
lifestyle I’ve been just fine all 13
years with no other complications Sheryl
Sandberg is the chief operating officer
of Facebook and the founder of lernan
org she says we cannot change we are not
aware of and
once we are aware we cannot help but
change my heart has inspired me to stay
healthy so now I hope that I can inspire
you all to stay healthy thank you [Applause]