Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:06 PM CST
Young heart attack survivor joins Heart Walk
By AMBER WILLIAMS, Staff writer
awilliams@jg-tc.com
On July 2, Mike Turner of Neoga had been back from lunch for about 45 minutes when he felt pain in his chest.
At first, he wrote it off as heartburn and kept working.
Soon his chest began to feel heavy and he felt weakness and pain in his left arm.
With a history of heart disease in his family, Turner decided not to take any chances.
The 29-year-old got in his truck and drove to the emergency room.
Upon arrival, doctors confirmed he was having a heart attack and flew him to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.
Turner’s doctors later told him that had he waited for an ambulance to take him to the emergency room, he would have died.
“They said I wouldn’t have had any chance,” Turner said.
Turner’s heart attack was caused by two small blockages in his heart caused by a blood clot between them, he said.
With several people in his family experiencing heart troubles in the past, Turner said he was careful to watch his sodium intake and his cholesterol. He knew the symptoms of a heart attack well enough to know when he needed to go to the hospital.
Still, having a heart attack at age 29 is something Turner said was a wake-up call not only to him, but to his friends and family.
Since his heart attack last summer, Turner has spoken to his brothers and his wife about having their cholesterol checked regularly and being examined for heart blockages.
“My family is taking a lot better care of themselves,” Turner said.
Turner will be a walking captain for the Coles County American Heart Association Heart Walk on Feb. 10.
The Heart Walk is an annual event aimed at aiding prevention of heart-related illnesses, increasing awareness and raising money for heart research that will go to the American Heart Association, said Patti Peterson, committee member for the Heart Walk.
On-site registration for the Heart Walk begins at noon Feb. 10 at the Cross County Mall and anyone is welcome to register, Peterson said. People interested can even form their own walking teams with family and friends.
Opening ceremonies for the Heart Walk begin at 1:30 p.m. and walking will commence at 1:50 p.m., Peterson said. Participants will be asked to walk a few laps around the mall; the point of the walk is not to walk the most miles.
The walking begins with the “red hat” participants who have survived heart-related events.
“Really, it is a sense of camaraderie for a lot of people,” Peterson said.
Money can be raised for the event in two ways: either people can make a donation at the Heart Walk event or the money can be pledged for a team that is walking, Peterson said.
A free health fair will also be taking place during the Heart Walk, she said.
Contact Amber Williams at awilliams@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.
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