“I live for today,” says heart disease survivor Teresa Wright-Johnson. Her experience has taught her that life is a gift, and every moment must be treasured. Born with a heart defect and an abnormal heart valve, Wright-Johnson has had multiple open-heart surgeries throughout her life, including an aortic valve replacement, and has recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Needless to say, Wright-Johnson takes her time—and her heart—seriously. “Every beat matters,” she says. “If we take care of our hearts, prayerfully, our hearts will take care of us.” With a lively sense of carpe diem and a desire to give back, Wright-Johnson reached out to the Lehigh Valley American Heart Association (AHA) in 2013 with encouragement from her husband.
Wright-Johnson's first AHA volunteer event was with the Lehigh Valley Heart Walk in 2013, shortly after retiring as a New Jersey state parole officer. She knew that heart disease would be her lifelong battle, and since the 2013 Heart Walk, she has made it a mission to use her life to encourage and possibly save others. “This is why my work as a volunteer is of utmost importance,” she says. “I go red for the AHA for all of the courageous people who are battling heart disease and for those who have lost as well.”
Today, her commitment to the AHA involves sitting on the Go Red Committee For Women, speaking at the Lehigh Valley Go Red Luncheon, participating in a fashion show sponsored by Macy's for American Heart Month in February and serving as an Executive Board member of the Lehigh Valley American Heart Association. Last but not least, Wright-Johnson is the current chair of the Passion Committee. She's responsible for raising awareness, educating the community and “expressing a personal passion for the AHA's mission to build healthier lives,” says Wright-Johnson. She's been speaking to community organizations including churches and women's groups to share her experience with heart disease and the warning signs.
It's a different experience when the public can see the face of a survivor. Many have told Wright-Johnson that she has inspired them to keep fighting, to identify and get involved with a cause. This is how she measures her accomplishments: “Every time someone hears my story, or takes some information with them and implements any life change, I feel extremely accomplished.” She firmly believes that our lives are measured by what we do to make our world better.
Lehigh Valley American Heart Association968 Postal Rd., Suite 110, Allentown610.867.0583 | heart.org/lehighvalley
