Heart walk teaches family prevention

By Anisa Lancione —

Queen and Strachan resident Danielle Fiedler is ready to walk.

On April 26, Fiedler, who leads her office’s team for Tridel, will step out with thousands of other walkers to raise money for the Cardiac Health Foundation’s 25th annual Walk of Life.

The event has become an annual one for her family. “The first year I did the walk I was 8 and a half months pregnant,” she laughs. “That was back in 2004. We did it over at SkyDome.”

Heart disease prevention is important to Fiedler. “My father had high blood pressure his entire life. On my mother’s side, all the women lived til just past 50 and died due to heart disease. So the concept of prevention for me was such an obvious one,” she relates. “It sort of surprised me that they didn’t have a preventive concept for something as important as heart disease.”

Since then, Fielder says, “we’ve gone every year as a family with my daughter Jordan. One year, I had my mom, who’s close to 70, do the shorter loop.”

“Being healthy is a struggle because of our jobs—me especially as I work at a desk job in the Tridel customer care department.” For this reason, Fiedler appreciates that the foundation “is more than just a walk—when you sign up for the walk you get year-round information about programs, events, and research.”

There is a $25 entry fee to participate. Registration for the 3, 5 and 7 kilometre routes starts at 8:30 a.m. Families can walk, run or cycle the course, and later enjoy the King & Queen of Hearts Kids Drawing Contest, interactive displays and exhibits, a heart healthy fair, the KidSport FunZone, exciting prize draws and more.

Visit www.walkoflife.ca or contact the Cardiac Health Foundation of Canada at (416) 730-8299 to register.