USA: In Pasadena, California, survivor Judy returns to the Rose Bowl for the American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Walk, marking her twelfth participation since receiving a lifesaving heart transplant. Once unable to walk from bed to table, Judy faced a dramatic collapse in September 2011 when her heart stopped. Diagnosed at UCLA Medical Center with a rare cardiac disease that had no cure or medical treatment available, physicians concluded that only a heart transplantation could save her life.
After the operation and years of recovery, Judy has transformed from patient to advocate. She and her husband have laced up their shoes for twelve consecutive walks, using the event to honor the donor community and to support research into heart disease and stroke. She credits advances in cardiac research from decades earlier with providing the treatments that made her survival possible and presses for continued investment so future patients might benefit.
The walk at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena serves both as celebration and as campaign. Organ donation, surgical techniques, and post transplant care have been central to Judy’s story, and the event highlights how clinical progress can turn deadly diagnoses into chronic survivorship. Judy’s participation draws attention to the patient journey from near death to active life and underscores the role of transplant medicine in saving lives.
Her determination and regular presence at the Heart and Stroke Walk aim to inspire others affected by cardiac illness and to raise funds toward research and treatment. Judy’s longstanding gratitude to clinicians and donors remains the driving force behind her annual return to the Rose Bowl and her continued advocacy for transplantation medicine. Her story emphasizes survival, the power of donation, and the impact of consistent community support in advancing transplant outcomes for future generations across the nation and beyond today.
