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HEALTHY LIFE
HEART & STROKE
May 1-2, 2013
It’s that simple:
Come join us
Much attention is be-
ing directed to the ex-
pense of health care and
the ruinous effect that
escalating health costs
have on the budgets of
businesses and govern-
ments, not to mention
the impact on individuals
and families.
There’s another side to
the health-care equation
that deserves equal atten-
tion: the ability of people to
take simple measures to im-
prove their health and less-
en the chances they will
need expensive forms of
care. For simplicity, nothing
can top walking as a means
of preventive medicine.
This edition of Healthy
Life, produced by the Pam-
plin Media Group, pro-
motes cardiovascular
health in general and par-
ticularly the act of walking.
The Pamplin Media Group
is a sponsor — along with
many other organizations
— of the annual Heart &
Stroke Walk along the Port-
land waterfront on Satur-
day, May 18.
The walk raises aware-
ness as well as money for
the American Heart Associ-
ation. Inside this section,
you will find details about
the walk along with articles
that will help you learn to
take better care of your
heart and cardiovascular
system. The advice for main-
taining heart health doesn’t
change much with time:
don’t smoke, eat less fat and
more vegetables, keep your
weight down and move
around more.
It’s easy to look at exer-
cise as a chore, but one in-
tent of the Heart Walk is to
demonstrate how straight-
forward it is to get started.
The course is flat and the
mileage is more than man-
ageable.
We hope you can join us
for the Heart & Stroke Walk
on May 18 and that this sec-
tion proves useful as a guide
for cardiovascular health.
— MARK GARBER
President and publisher
Portland Tribune and
Community Newspapers
By KARA HANSEN MURPHEY
Pamplin Media Group
K
arina Ruiz knows all too well the loss
associated with heart disease.
In 2009, her father, Miguel, died after
suffering from heart disease for years.
About a year later, her niece Alyssa died from
complications related to a congenital heart de-
fect.
But instead of wallowing in grief, Ruiz has
poured much of her energy into helping oth-
ers live longer, happier lives as a volunteer for
the American Heart Associa-
tion’s Greater Portland & SW
Washington Heart & Stroke
Walk in Portland each May.
“I feel the best way I can
honor their memory and their
fight is to continue to tell their
stories,” Ruiz said of her dad
and niece. “If it means some-
body else gets to keep their
dad or niece around longer
than we did, I will consider
that a blessing.”
Ruiz, associate principal with Dull Olson
Weekes-IBI Group Architects in Portland, lives
in Tualatin. She doesn’t just participate in the
heart walk and help organize and recruit teams
for the annual event. She also lobbies lawmakers
to support issues related to heart health, and she
shares her story with others in hopes of boosting
awareness and engaging more volunteers.
Lanette Day, executive director of the Ameri-
can Heart Association’s local chapter, said Ruiz
and volunteers like her play a crucial role in sup-
porting the organization.
“She puts a face on our cause locally,” Day
said. “She really helps us bring our mission to
life. ... A lot of people know that heart disease is
out there, and they know it’s a big issue; they
know AHA exists. But they may not know what
we do in the community.
“Members like Karina —who are out there ad-
vocating on our behalf — that kind of volunteer-
ing goes so much farther than anything I could
say or that our organization could put out there.”
Ruiz became involved in the organization in
late 2009, around the time her dad died. It was
happenstance that she received an email about
memorial contributions to the American Heart
Association, leading her family to suggest dona-
tions to the organization in lieu of flowers at his
funeral.
Not long after, she noticed a promotion for the
annual Heart & Stroke Walk in Portland.
“I decided it was a good opportunity to honor
his memory,” she said. “It was a good opportuni-
ty to get everybody together to honor his memo-
ry.”
The first year she participated in the walk, in
2010, her teamwas called Heart Throbs for
Miguel. A huge group of family members and
friends made the trek up from northern Califor-
nia to join those in Oregon honoring the memo-
ry of her father.
A year later, when Ruiz’s niece Alyssa died
from complications that arose during surgery,
the team’s name changed to Heart Throbs for
Miguel and Alyssa — underscoring the fact that
heart disease doesn’t only affect older adults,
nor is it limited to people with unhealthy life-
styles.
“My dad was incredibly fit; he played soccer
almost every day of his life,” Ruiz said. It was
during one of those routine soccer games that he
suffered a massive heart attack at age 48, al-
though at first he thought he simply took a bad
ball to the chest.
Her mother, however, had just received train-
ing at work about signs of a heart attack, and
she was able to recognize what was happening.
Miguel Ruiz survived the heart attack, but heart
disease eventually led him to die in his sleep one
night.
Reflecting on that time, Karina Ruiz said that
while she was aware of the American Heart As-
sociation back then, she didn’t immediately real-
ize how commonly it touched people’s lives.
The training her mother had that helped iden-
tify the heart attack? It came from the heart as-
sociation, Ruiz said. The medical procedures
that initially saved her father’s life were devel-
oped from research funded by the association,
she said.
In the case of niece Alyssa, she was 2 years old
when her heart deficiency was discovered. Over
the years, the American Heart Association
helped provide information about treatments
and procedures and support groups. Before she
died at age 20, when facing surgery related to
her heart defect, Alyssa was able to research the
advantages and disadvantages of her options
through the AHA.
Ruiz said she appreciates that the heart asso-
ciation is “less reactionary and more about pre-
vention.” She’s especially passionate about
fighting obesity and improving childhood
health. She also likes the idea of requiring CPR
training for students to graduate from high
school.
“It would put 45,000 first responders out there
every year,” she said. “There just are not enough
people willing and trained to step in and help.”
Ruiz said she hopes to be a champion of the
simple lifestyle changes that improve people’s
health.
“Eighty percent of heart disease is prevent-
able,” she said. “Communicating that to people is
really what the heart association is about. At the
end of the day, you want to be here, happy and
healthy for your whole family.”
This May will mark the fourth year she has
participated in the Heart & Stroke Walk. Her
team includes about 40 people on average.
“There’s so much loss associated with heart
disease,” Ruiz said. “It’s the No. 1 killer. It kills
more women than the next three forms of cancer
combined.
“If there’s anything through my action or
through the actions of the heart association that
can spare someone else’s family enduring the
pain and loss we’ve endured ... there’s nothing
more important to me than that.”
■
Karina Ruiz walks,
volunteers in memory
of her dad and niece
Keeping the cause alive
PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: VERN UYETAKE
Karina Ruiz is associate principal with Dull Olson
Weekes-IBI Group Architects in Portland, but she
also is a prominent volunteer for the American
Heart Association.
The team
“Heart Throbs
for Miguel &
Alyssa”
regularly brings
several dozen
people to the
American Heart
Association’s
Heart & Stroke
Walk in Portland.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
ALYSSA