Cayman’s ‘Heart Heroes’ – survivors of cardiovascular diseases – were honoured at a recent Cayman Heart Fund awards ceremony.
The annual Red Dress Heart Heroes Awards took place on Friday, 30 Sept., in the Marriott Ballroom, where attendees gathered to celebrate the Heart Heroes who have shown courage, resilience, compassion, and bravery in the face of debilitating heart and circulatory conditions.
Cayman Heart Fund explained in a press release, “Through this program we raise public awareness of heart disease and stroke – still the biggest threat to public health globally and in the Cayman Islands.”
This year’s Heart Heroes were:
• Keynote speaker Doug Dodds – on-air personality for Rooster 101 and Gold FM 94.9 radio who survived open heart surgery in 2018 to repair a severely calcified aortic valve.
• Daphne Ewing-Chow – a stroke survivor who is a well-known and widely published Caribbean journalist with a passion for food systems, the environment, health.
• Marcia Davis – Librarian at West Bay Library who survived open heart surgery.
• Charles Adams – Owner of Artifacts whose life was saved when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at the Cayman Tennis Club.
• Gaye Randolph – a stroke survivor.
• Pastor Dr. Randall Von Kanel – heart surgery survivor.
• Colin Bodden – a Caymanian who has undergone a heart transplant.
Recognition awards were also presented to:
• Christina Kish, director of Lifeline for dedication to improving the chances of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.
• Governor Martyn Roper and Elizabeth Roper for their dedication and commitment as co-patrons.
• Health City Cayman Islands – for the organisation’s extraordinary care and compassion in managing heart and circulatory conditions.
• Vicki Wheaton – for her dedicated years of support to Cayman Heart Fund.
“The threat of [cardiovascular disease] has never been more urgent and is intensified by age, sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and more. It’s estimated that 9 out of 10 people have at least one risk factor, such as high blood pressure, obesity, tobacco use, lack of physical activity, and diabetes,” Cayman Heart Fund said.
The annual luncheon and awards ceremony os the largest fundraiser for the Cayman Heart Fund. Funds raised through the event go towards the fund’s community programmes, which include teaching healthy lifestyle choices; supplying automated external defibrillators; funding modern health services equipment; free public health screenings; and improving the population’s health and fitness.
Guests were encouraged to wear and accessorise in red to highlight the fact that although most heart attacks and strokes are preventable, circulatory disease remains the biggest threat to life in Cayman.
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