Capital Region Heart Walk Raises Nearly $500K Fundraising to Fight Heart Disease and Stroke through June 30

ALBANY — Walkers and runners participated in the 2021 Capital Region Heart Walk and Run, a digital event earlier this month that continued the fight against heart disease and stroke, that raised more than $489,000. People can donate until June 30 at CapitalRegionHeartWalk.org. 

“The pandemic created the exact kind of situations that exacerbate heart disease and stroke – many of us were more sedentary, we may have gained a little weight, and we faced new stresses as we combined working from home with supervising our children’s schooling,” said Jennifer Corcoran Conway, mother of 9-year-old Heart Hero Aedan Conway and chair of the Capital Region Board of Directors of the American Heart Association. “Today, we literally took steps to improve our own health, and by investing in the work of the American Heart Association, we invested in the health of our entire community.” 

Aedan Conway of Delmar, the Heart Hero for this year’s Capital Region Heart Walk and Run, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which, in his case, meant that one of his heart ventricles didn’t develop properly. Aedan has had three open-heart surgeries. 

In Clifton Park, Braden Russom and his family walked at Clifton Park Commons in Clifton Park. Russom, 40, is the Stroke Ambassador to the Capital Region Heart Walk and Run this year. He has had four strokes since he was in college. Last year, he had surgery to repair the hole in his heart suspected of causing the strokes. Russom’s wife and daughters, who are 4 and 7, live with Long QT Syndrome. 

The American Heart Association funds research and education about heart disease and stroke; advocates for policies that make the healthy choice the easy choice; and is committed to ending systemic racism and providing equitable health for all. 

For more information about the event, go to: CapitalRegionHeartWalk.org. To learn more about the American Heart Association or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of the organization’s offices around the country.