INDIANAPOLIS — The American Heart Association hosted the 30th annual Indianapolis Heart Walk and 5K Run Saturday morning at Victory Field.
The event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for the American Heart Association and celebrates survivors of heart disease and stroke.
Heart disease is still Indiana's leading cause of death, according to the American Heart Association. "It affects one in three people, one in three Hoosiers. So, it's something that we need to continue to address," said Tim Harms, spokesperson for American Heart Association. "We need to continue to help people learn how to live a healthy lifestyle, whether it be through diet and exercise, we need to help them learn how to control their risk factors, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and we need to continue funding that lifesaving research, the things that can make a difference for all of us."
The American Heart Association offered to teach CPR to Trimedx. The company is in charge of maintaining medical devices at hospitals. About a week later, its CEO had to put his training to use.
"I saw a gentleman unconscious laying in the lawn and at first didn't think anything of it," said Henry Hummel, Trimedx CEO. "Realized it wasn't normal, stopped, looked at him, could see he was foaming at the mouth, got out of the car, called 911 and immediately cleared his throat and doing CPR and following instruction of the operator."
So far, this year's walk has raised around $500,000 for heart disease and stroke research.
Since this walk began 30 years ago, deaths related to heart disease and stroke have dropped by 50 percent.
The American Heart Association said there's still more work that needs to be done, however, as disparities and inequities impact minority populations.
WTHR's Chuck Lofton was the emcee.