Keynote Speaker
Kirk Herbstreit
Kellogg’s has announced that Kirk Herbstreit, ABC/ESPN college football analyst, will be the keynote speaker for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Event taking place on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. Kellogg’s is the Signature Sponsor for the Go Red For Women Event.
Kirk Herbstreit is a 1993 graduate of The Ohio State University. Kirk is a former OSU quarterback and team captain for the 1992 season. At the conclusion of the 1992 season Kirk was voted team MVP and most inspirational player.
Since 1995 Kirk has been a college football analyst for ABC/ESPN. In 1996 he joined Chris Fowler and co-analyst Lee Corso on ESPN’s popular College Gameday program. In 2006 he joined Brent Musberger for ABC’s Saturday Night Prime Time broadcast, broadcast television’s first ever weekly prime time college football program.
Kirk has been nominated 7 times for the Sports Emmy Award as television’s top studio analyst. In 2010 and 2011 Kirk received the Sports Emmy as television’s top studio analyst. In 2008, 2010 and 2011 College Gameday received the Sports Emmy Award as television’s top studio show. Kirk and his wife Allison reside in Nashville, Tennessee with their 4 boys.
Our Survivor
Audie Morton
I am sharing my story, because young people are often overlooked when it comes to heart health check-ups. The same syndrome that affected me, is often present when you hear a news report about a young athlete collapsing on a football field, or basketball court. So, if there is one thing I’ve learned in 27 years on this planet, it’s that we have to listen to what our bodies are telling us, whether we want to believe the symptoms or not.
On December 10th, 2008, I was at my very first, live, radio remote at a convenience store in Republic, Missouri. I was talking to my mother, in Dallas, Texas, about how excited I was to be there, and what I was going to talk about while on-location, when all of a sudden, my right peripheral vision started to go black. I told my Mom I had cracked my neck weird on the way to the remote, and thought that I might have hit a nerve or something, but shortly after, my “tunnel” vision began, I started to experience tingling in my pinky fingers, followed by numbness, and then the sensation began to spread, finger by finger, till it reached my wrist.
I was telling my mother, and she told me that it was not normal. Having suffered from migraines since I was 10 years old, I thought that it might be an early onset of a migraine. But suddenly, as my fingers were starting to get feeling in them again, the right side of my lips became tingly and numb, followed by the right side of my tongue. My mother then said to me, “It sounds like you’re having a stroke, I need you to stop what you’re doing, go inside the store, get some Aspirin, chew 2 of them up and call 911”. Never sounding frightened or anxious, she told me to call her back as soon as I did that.
Before I could get out of the van, a swarm of radio listeners began asking me questions about the Angel Tree promotion the convenience store was sponsoring. When answering one lady’s question, my words started coming out all jumbled. I knew what I needed to say, but the connection between my brain and what was coming out of my mouth didn’t make sense. I made it through my first live, on-air break, but afterward while talking to my Mom, she told me to call my boss and tell him I could not drive the company van, and that I was calling 911. Fortunately, he lived within a couple of miles, and immediately came and drove me to the hospital.
Mom immediately flew in from Dallas, met me in the ER, and the doctor told us that my symptoms might have mirrored a stroke, but there could be something else wrong, so he referred me to an internal specialist. The internal specialist had been conducting a study on the effects of migraines, and thought that it might have been the onset of a major migraine, or possibly a heart related issue. I went from barely ever having to visit the doctor, to gaining a neurologist, a cardiologist, and an internal specialist all in the same week!
After MRI’s, CAT Scans, and Holter Monitor tests, it was discovered I was having TIA’s or stroke-like symptoms involving blood clots reaching my brain. Fortunately, I did not suffer any brain damage. The cardiologist suggested they needed to get a closer picture of my heart, so I had a T-E-E, or trans-esophageal echocardiogram, where a thermal scope goes down the throat and takes a 3-D thermal image of the heart. The minute the image appeared on the screen, they could tell I had a hole in my heart. This condition is called a PFO, or Patent Foramen Ovale, which is a hole between the left and right atria, or upper chambers of the heart, that fails to close naturally, soon after birth. One out of every four people has this condition. Unless there are other health problems throughout the person’s life, they might not ever know they have an issue.
Although my cardiologist tried to treat the blood clots with medication, he was quick to determine that the only cure was to have PFO closure surgery. On February, 5th, 2009, at the age of 23, and almost 2 months to the day from my first symptoms, I had surgery where a tiny umbrella shaped clip was used to close the hole in my heart. After 6 months of recover and a follow-up T-E-E, the procedure was a success!
I am so thankful that God placed such knowledgeable people in my life, such as my entire family, my friends, and all of my doctors. I want to say a special “THANK YOU” to my Mother, as you were my rock during scary times of uncertainty, and a light in my HEART through times of recovery and prayer.
