Cinnaminson Patch Letter To The Editor: Heart Attack Survivor Shares Story, Thanks Community For Support

To the Editor:

I have been fighting our fight for nearly 24 years. I was born with a misshaped heart and pulmonary stenosis, a thickened valve that does not fully open, and 3 holes in my heart.

At age 19, I became a cardiac arrest survivor. In April 2012, my heart stopped for 15 minutes and I was put into an induced coma. I then had a defibrillator, pacemaker, and ASD closure device implanted.

Since then I have had clotting in my subclavian vein, a pulmonary embolism, and multiple TIA stroke episodes due to clotting on my pacemaker lead inside of my right ventricle.

I suffered head trauma from the stroke episodes and was unable to walk straight from February through August 2016.

I was extremely thankful to be able to walk at the 2016 Southern New Jersey Fall Heart Walk and to share my story with participants.

I thank everyone who walked with us on Saturday, October 22 at Cooper River Park and who supported the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s mission of building healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

At 24 years old, I am proud to be a cardiac arrest and stroke survivor. It is through programs like the Heart Walk that we can help fight these deadly diseases by funding research and education, advocating for better health, improving patient care and reaching at-risk populations.

For more information on the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, visit www.heart.org.

Respectfully,
Matthew Tamburri
Volunteer, American Heart Association and American Stroke Association
Cinnaminson, NJ