Near the end of her pregnancy in spring 2001, Allyson Gamble's family was told they might have to choose between her life and her baby's. After eight uneventful months of pregnancy, she was retaining pounds of fluid and could hardly muster the strength to crawl in bed.
Doctors found she'd inexplicably developed dilated cardiomyopathy. Her heart was failing.
This March, employees at UnitedHealthcare discovered their friend and longtime co-worker, Dennis Seals, collapsed in the stairwell at work.
Seals was a man who ran the stairs daily, a fellow who enjoyed a healthful lifestyle, a relatively young man. Within 36 hours, he died at University Hospital, the result of a massive stroke.
Heart disease and stroke can strike the people you'd least expect, according to Annette Herman, chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare and president-elect of the American Heart Association of Utah.
No one expected Gamble's pregnancy to very nearly cost her her life. And Seals was not someone whom family and friends expected to say goodbye to so early.
It is to celebrate the Gambles and Sealses of the world that the American Heart Association sponsors its annual American Heart Walk each year.
In Utah, the walk takes place at Sugarhouse Park Saturday, Aug. 3, with registration at the Northwest Terrace at 8:30 a.m. The walk starts at 9:15 a.m., followed by breakfast provided by Subway, health screenings by Intermountain Health Care of Utah, Kids Zone with Disney Radio, live entertainment and more.
The walk raises money to fund heart and stroke research and to promote education and prevention programs. Heart disease is the top killer in both the state and the nation; stroke is the No. 3 killer and a leading cause of long-term disability.
Gamble, her husband Jim, their son and both sets of his grandparents will walk in support of the association. It was association funding that first paid for the research of Dr. Michael Gilbert into the use of beta blockers; years later, Gilbert used what he'd learned to save Gamble's life.
A group of 58 people from UnitedHealthcare, including Seals' family members, will walk, too, to honor a man they loved and raise funds for research that will perhaps save others from their sorrow. Many of them have formed a walking group that goes out daily. They also got their corporate brokers to sponsor them. And this year, at the company picnic, they had a dunking booth to raise money. In all, they brought in $7,300 in Seals' honor.
After Gamble developed what was first thought to be a "little toxemia," she was treated for dehydration, then sent home to rest. She ended up in the emergency room, desperately ill in the middle of the night, coughing and gasping for air. Her heart was failing and the fluids in her body were backing up, shutting down her organs. She was in University Hospital's intensive care unit for several days.
She told her husband and family if only one life could be saved, she wanted it to be the baby's. Later, she learned her father pulled her husband aside and told him, "My baby is on that bed right there, and I want you to save MY baby."
It never came down to a decision.
She stabilized and went home for a week; then they decided to take the baby early. She was failing. With an obstetrician, a cardiologist and a pediatrician all in the room, Benjamin was born. Gamble was once again placed in intensive care. Her family was told she might never work again, she might not be able to care for Ben. Her heart was enlarged and pumping at only 30 percent, she said.
Statistically, 30 percent of people with cardiomyopathy get better, 30 percent stay the same, and 40 percent get worse. With beta blockers and ACE inhibitors (a lifelong need now), Gamble became one of the former group. She's even back at work doing public relations for the Capitol Preservation Board and the governor.
She can't hike or backpack any more, and when it makes her sad, she remembers to just be grateful she can walk, she said. And to cuddle her son in her arms.
E-MAIL: lois@desnews.com