Local survivors featured on national magazine
(pictured above: Triad residents David Layton (seated) with Randy Ludington and Anne Howell.)
The August issue of the American Heart Association’s national Heart Insight Magazine is shining a bright spotlight on three Triad residents. The cover features Summerfield resident and stroke survivor David Layton, High Point resident and heart transplant survivor Anne Howell, and Greensboro resident and heart attack survivor Randy Ludington.
David, Anne and Randy met through their volunteer initiatives with the American Heart Association in the Triad and formed the Triad Triage Trio to share their stories and help educate the community on how they can prevent and fight heart disease and stroke.
Layton suffered a massive stroke in 1999 at 55 years old, leaving him without the use of his left arm and hand. It did give him a new calling – to spread the word that stroke is largely preventable. Smoking, a high stress job and high blood pressure had increased his risk of stroke. His stroke was his wake up call to make changes to his lifestyle and to help others in his community learn how they can prevent stroke.
At 52 years old, Ludington suffered a heart attack in 2000. Randy experienced a pinching feeling across his back which grew to severe shoulder pain and began to radiate down his arm. Then he began feeling intense pain in his jaw and teeth. In the emergency room, Randy learned that he had a heart attack. He received a stent to fix a blocked artery and was told that he also needed to make some heart-healthy changes. Randy stopped smoking right after his heart attack, lost 40 pounds in just three months and began exercising regularly. When Randy and David met at an American Heart Association event, they knew they were destined to become a “duo” and talk to local groups and companies about heart disease and stroke.
In 2011, Randy and David met Howell as they were volunteering for the AHA’s Go Red For Women entry in the High Point Holiday Parade. Anne had lost her mother to sudden cardiac arrest when her mother was only 41 years old. In time, Anne and one of her sisters also learned that they had inherited the same genetic condition, known as cardiomyopathy. Over 16 years, Anne was on a slow decline and she was eventually put on the heart transplant list. In 2009, Anne, a mother of two sons, got the call that a donor heart was available. Anne survived her heart transplant and is now sharing her miracle with others.
Anne, Randy and David call themselves the Triad Triage Trio and they speak to groups in the Triad and across North Carolina to help others prevent and fight heart disease and stroke. They share their stories and American Heart Association materials free of charge.
To reserve the Triad Triage Trio for an organization or company presentation, contact sarah.fedele@heart.org or call Sarah Fedele at 336-662-3304.
