Turning Grief into Action

A mother is the first heartbeat we hear before we even enter the world. For many, a mom represents comfort, serenity and a place we call home. So when I lost my mom, I didn’t just lose a parent. I lost a piece of me that I had always known. She was someone who I had never imagined I would have to live without, until pancreatic cancer changed our lives forever. 

In 2022, all I can remember is the overlapping appointments, long hospital stays, surgeries, treatments and uncertainty. I was only 10 years old, spending my birthday looking at my moms fragile face through a phone screen. She went through chemotherapy, facing something incredibly difficult while still being the person I knew and loved more than anything and anyone in the whole world. At that age, I may not have understood everything that was happening, but I knew my mom was sick and I knew I didn’t have that much time left with her. 

After chemotherapy, my mom suffered a cardiac arrest and she passed away. The person I always thought would be there was suddenly gone. There were so many questions I couldn’t answer yet and so many things I wanted to say to her. Even now, years later, it still doesn’t feel real to me. 

As I grew older, I began thinking about what I could do with the experience that I had. Losing my mom made me realize how crucial it is to understand our health and the health of our loved ones. My experience also helped me realize how many younger people nowadays are unaware of the importance of heart health. 

I can’t change or go back in time to fix what happened to my mom. But I can share her story and advocate about heart health, cardiac arrest and understanding our bodies through HeartHeritageProject. I won’t allow loss to be the end of my story, I want it to become a larger conversation, to protect the newer generations. I lost my mom, but I won’t let her story end with loss. However, through her story I hope I can help protect someone else's.