By ANGELI KAKADE
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
An event that takes place today takes the tradition of running on Thanksgiving to heart.
It’s called Bolt for the Heart. The annual 5K race raises money to buy defibrillators to put in police cars and other emergency vehicles in central Indiana.
It’s a race Jeanne Johnson of Carmel said she has run for years, but it wasn’t until this year when she says she experienced firsthand the power of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Johnson knew heart disease ran in her family.
Johnson
“I would make an effort to eat healthy and I came to Orangetheory three or four days a week,” Johnson said.
But in April of this year, while at her regular 12 p.m. Orangetheory Fitness class, Johnson went into sudden cardiac arrest. She had just finished a 12-minute segment on the treadmill. It’s a workout she had done several times before.
“I went on the rower and was talking to some friends and that was the last thing I remember, she said.
Johnson’s heart flatlined.
“Fortunately, Orangetheory had an AED on the wall right next to me and three nurses who were also in the class stepped in,” Johnson said.
An AED is a portable device used to help people who go into sudden cardiac arrest.
“Think of it like a battery, it jumpstarts the heart back into rhythm,” said Pierre Twer, the president for Bolt for the Heart.
The mobility of an AED is important because Twer said a cardiac arrest is like having to hold your breath. A few minutes is a matter of life and death. For Johnson, it gave her time to get to the hospital where she later underwent bypass surgery. She credits her strength before the cardiac arrest and the AED after it for coming out on the other side.
“Once you have your chest cracked open and you can’t use your arms to get out of bed or get out of a chair, you’re grateful you’ve had so many bicycle movements and sits-ups and strength training that we do here at Orangetheory. If they hadn’t had an AED, I wouldn’t be here to tell you about it,” Johnson said.
Johnson was cleared for normal activity by her doctor just a few months, but her first order of business?
“Just running the race with my family on Thanksgiving,” she said.
Twer said funds raised from this year’s race will benefit the Indiana Sheriff’s Association and getting AEDs into rural areas.