Everyone should have a cause or maybe a group of causes he or she supports. What we believe in defines us as individuals and as humans. You never know when an organization you support will directly impact a life close to you…or perhaps your own.
I recall as a child wondering why my parents were such easy marks for charity pitches. They seems to donate to anyone who asked. They were good, caring people ho hated to see anyone suffering. But as a kid the dollar or two they gave seemed like a lot of money I could have used for better things like candy or a new toy.
As I matured I began to understand why my parents did as they did. Their money went to support research that was finding cures to debilitating diseases or discovering treatments to enhanced the quality of life for those with afflictions. So by the time I was an adult I was accustomed to donating to charities, primarily those that helped children, fought cancer or benefitted animals. The American Heart Association is one cause I have supported for years. As it turned out, in May of 1995 I needed the research al those donations over the years had supported.
You see I had open heart surgery. The procedure used to replace my mitral valve involved a tissue graft fashioned into a new valve, thus preventing most of the negatives associated with artificial valves, like using Coumadin or some other blood thinner for the rest of my life. The surgical team worked all day and, I’m told, I was clinically dead seven times before before my heart began to heat again on its own. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the medical research that went on years before that day with the support of The American Heart Association and others is why I had a chance. Had I been born twenty or so years before I know I would not have made it.
*This is a personal and unsolicited endorsement of The American Heart Association. The logo belong to the organization is used here for purposes of association of the personal story with the beneficial work of the charitable organization.
#AHA #AmericanHeartAssociation #OpenHeartSurgery
The One & Only Elgon 