Hundreds Attend Heart Defects Fundraiser

By Jamie Adam

Windsor has an abnormally high heart defect rate and The Heart Defects Society of Windsor and Essex County sought to raise awareness this weekend.

Their seventh annual pasta dinner at the Teutonia Club had an estimated 300 people in attendance, which president Darren Womack said has been their best turnout to date.

“It’s very important that they know that there’s an organization out there with people who have gone through it before that would help them from a social standpoint and from an overall standpoint,” said Womack.

According the Heart Defects Society’s website, congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect worldwide.  It states 12 people are born every day in Canada with a heart defect.  According to the site, Ontario has the highest heart defect rate in the country and Windsor has the highest rate in the province.

The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation recognizes many types of congenital heart defects including ineffective valves, holes in the heart and the narrowing of arteries or veins.

Symptoms of a congenital heart defect include a bluish tint to skin, lips and fingernails, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, fatigue and heart murmurs.

Congenital heart defects can be treated with surgery or medication.

Stephanie Voakes, secretary for the society, lives with five heart defects.  She said she was bullied as a child because of the oxygen tank she had to carry.

“I was the only one in my town with a congenital heart defect and there was no one else like me,” said Voakes. “So I think it’s great to raise awareness in our community for people like me so they don’t feel so isolated, like I did when I was growing up.”

The most important thing for vice president Warren Hayes is making people aware of heart defects.  His 19-year-old daughter died because of a heart defect that went undetected.

“It was devastating because she passed away at home. She was a vibrant, healthy child and we had no way of knowing that she was sick,” said Hayes. “Through her memory, we have been able to help raise funds and awareness for the Heart Defects Society.”

Children in Windsor must go to London, Ont. for checkups and travel to Toronto for any operations. The Heart Defects Society assists with the cost of travel, hotels, meals, procedures, the cost of parents having to take time off work and other costs incurred.

The dinner is expected to have raised approximately $4,000 for families in need of assistance with the cost of traveling.

The Heart Defects Society’s sixth annual Walk’n Roll Walkathon will be held in May.

 

 

 

CUTLINE
A participant spoons pasta onto her plate at the Heart Defects Society of Windsor and Essex County’s seventh annual pasta dinner Feb. 8. (PHOTO BY JAMIE ADAM)