I walk in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk because of my niece, Veronica, whose journey has shown me the true meaning of resilience, hope, and the lifesaving power of cardiovascular research.
Fourteen years ago, just one week after giving birth to her baby boy, she went into sudden heart failure due to post partum cardiomyopathy. What began as a routine doctor visit turned into a terrifying spiral of ER trips, misdiagnoses, and moments when we feared we might lose her.
After being told she would recover in a few weeks, her condition worsened. She bounced between the ER and hospital admissions for months until we finally reached John Muir, where we met Dr. Hawke. He recognized what others had missed and immediately put her in a life vest to keep her alive.
September 26, 2012, she was admitted to CPMC in San Francisco for transplant work up and due to the seriousness of her condition instead she had emergency LVAD surgery. That same day, her heart stopped. She suffered a brain injury and spent 22 days in a coma. The outlook was bleak, but Veronica fought her way back—slowly, stubbornly, miraculously.
Fast forward to February 2024: she was officially listed for a heart transplant. Just three days later—right after the holiday weekend—she received the gift of a new heart. Today, she continues to recover from the brain injury, but she is alive, healing, and thriving in ways we once only prayed for.
Veronica is my poster girl, my inspiration, and the reason I walk. I walk to honor her strength, to support the science that saved her, and to help ensure that more families get their miracle too. Thank you for helping me reach my goal!