Ignoring the old adage, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” changes are planned for the 2009 Northeast Missouri Heart Walk.
“Look for a little change next year. We’re going to do it on a Saturday,” said Cathy Pickett, this year’s Heart Walk chairwoman. “It’s going to become a family event that will bring the whole family out. There will be something to do from the little ones to the old ones.
“We look forward to next year.”
Using the level of participation as an indicator, Pickett acknowledged there was nothing wrong with this year’s Heart Walk, which took place on the campus of Hannibal-LaGrange College. Approximately 200 people turned out to walk over the noon hour.
“I think it’s very comparable (to the number of walkers in past years). I don’t know that it’s tremendously more. I know it’s not less so I’m very happy with the turnout we’ve had today,” she said.
Kicking off the event with a balloon release was a group of young children. While the youngsters were having fun, Pickett was also hopeful they would absorb something about the importance of cardiovascular health.
“We need to keep our children focused so that they start at an early age and don’t have the problems we are facing today,” she said.
Cardiovascular problems remain a serious threat to Americans, according to Pickett.
“Even though there are a lot of devastating diseases today heart disease and stroke are still the No. 1 and 2 killers of men and women in our country today,” she said. “It’s very important that we keep on top of things because most of the time women’s symptoms are so different than men. There are over 16,000 young women every year that die of heart disease and over 40,000 are hospitalized. A lot of times because you don’t know that you’ve got this (a cardiovascular problem), when it does happen it’s fatal.”
