Twin sisters Olivia (right) and Sofia Hart were diagnosed a with rare genetic condition that caused their hearts to enlarge and fail. (Photo courtesy of Sofia Hart) Fresh out of college with a degree in nutrition, Olivia Hart went home to Martha’s Vineyard to waitress and figure out her next steps. In her spare time,…

Heart transplant recipient Katherine Herrmann (right) with her husband, Ian, on their wedding day in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Devin Hill) While the other kids went out to play during kindergarten recess, Katherine Herrmann had to stay inside. She was born with a heart problem that required her to take medications every day. Because blood…

Cardiac arrest survivor Memphis Zabawa. (Photo courtesy of the Zabawa family) Memphis Zabawa loves playing soccer. Yet because he has asthma, all the running can be especially taxing. So, last fall, the seventh grader joined his school’s cross-country team. His first race went fine. Midway through the second race, all was going well, too. His…

Farah Siddiqi (left) with her father, Qamar Masood. (Photo courtesy of Farah Siddiqi) When Beyoncé and Taylor Swift toured Missouri last summer, broadcast reporter Farah Siddiqi used their appearances as an opportunity to teach people about CPR. She wrote a story explaining how songs like Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” and Swift’s “The Man” can help…

Cardiac arrest survivor Omar Carter (right) with longtime friend and high school teammate Steph Curry. (Photo courtesy of Omar Carter) Omar Carter was hoping to catch the attention of an NBA scout when he walked onto the basketball court for a pro-am game in Charlotte, North Carolina. Carter had shown a lot of promise throughout…

Heart disease survivor JuNene K. is now climbing mountains and working toward a PhD in natural medicine. (Photo courtesy of JuNene K. Harris) Two days before her 40th birthday, JuNene K. Harris was asleep at home in Lancaster, Texas, when she woke up to her smartwatch buzzing incessantly on her wrist. JuNene – known professionally…

Brittany Clayborne (left) with her 13-year-old son, Micah, who is on the waiting list for a new heart after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in December 2023. (Photo courtesy of Brittany Clayborne) Three days after Brittany Clayborne gave birth to her son, Micah, she couldn’t catch her breath. The then-26-year-old returned to the Dallas hospital…

Krissi Oden (left) with her mom, Edna Machen, in the mid-1990s. (Photo courtesy of Krissi Oden) One of the best dishes to come out of Edna K. Machen’s small-town West Texas home kitchen was chicken fried steak. Her fried chicken was pretty good, too. For Edna’s daughter, Krissi Oden, and Krissi’s older brother, Mark, and…

Claire Sprouse was five and a half months pregnant when she had a procedure to get a new aortic valve. (Photo courtesy of Edwards Lifesciences) As a teenager, Claire Sprouse spent hours in the ballet studio perfecting her pliés, then performing on stage. At 16, she started having chest pains. The problem indeed turned out…

When Nick Reed had a stroke while playing golf, his equilibrium was so off that he had to crawl into the clubhouse. (Photo courtesy of Matthew Watson Photography) On his way to the golf course one day last July, Nick Reed couldn’t get cool. He figured it had to do with the heat advisory in…