Second Annual “Go Red For Women” Aims to Prevent Heart Disease

Close to 200 people showed up to the luncheon downtown Fargo

FARGO, N.D. — One woman dies every 80 seconds from a heart attack or stroke.

In order to lower that statistic, the American Heart Association hosted their second annual “Go Red For Women” event.

Holly Hoffman knows what it means to be a survivor, literally.
Out of 100,000 applications, she and 19 other people were chosen to be on the T.V. reality show “Survivor.”

“It was a lot harder than I ever imagined. I visualized tents and campers and porter pottys out there and they drop you off in the jungle. You have one set of of clothes, a swimsuit, a water bottle, a bag and that’s it,” Hoffman said.

Through all the adversity she faced, she says the biggest thing she learned is she needed to start taking care of herself.

“I myself have never had a heart issues but I was on the path of possibly having one because I just wasn’t taking care of myself,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman was able to get her heart health back on track but many women don’t, which is why the American Heart Association started “Go Red For Women” in 2004.
KVRR was a proud sponsor of the event, featuring a silent auction, as well as one woman’s story about overcoming heart disease.

Our Alison Voorhees was the emcee.
The goal was to educate people about how they can avoid heart attacks, strokes and other cardiac diseases.

“Do one thing every day that makes you more heart healthy. Make sure that we’re talking to our primary care doctors about our numbers,” said Julia Dangerfield with the American Heart Association.

Other ways to prevent heart disease include not smoking, knowing how to maintain and achieve a healthy weight.

“Eighty-five percent of is preventable if we give people the right education and the right tools,” said Dr. Sam Kapphahn, interventional cardiologist with Essentia Health.

Which is exactly what Hoffman says she was grateful for because otherwise, her story could have had a much different ending.

“That was scary and that was really an awakening for me to say you know, Holly, you don’t want to go there. You don’t want to have a heart attack or a stroke. You need to take care of yourself,” Hoffman said.

If you couldn’t make it to the luncheon, the American Heart Association will have a Heart Walk in Detroit Lakes on May 31.