10,000 expected to attend 2019 Tulsa Heart Walk

TULSA — The first Tulsa Heart Walk, organized by the American Heart Association, took place inside a shopping mall and about a hundred people attended.

Thirty-five years later, about 10,000 people are expected to gather for the event.

Misti Stephens is Senior Heart Walk Director, she told KRMG Tuesday that the walk helps fund vital research and education to combat what remains the number one killer of men and women in the United States.

[Click here to hear the entire interview with Misti Stephens, or use the player below]

“Eighty percent of  heart disease is preventable through lifestyle changes,” she added, which is why the educational component is so important.

But the research into heart disease prevention and treatment, funded largely through fundraisers like Saturday’s event, has led to important breakthroughs.

“The American Heart Association has funded more research than any organization other than the federal government,” Stephens said. “(AHA) is responsible for advancements like CPR, the stent. So anybody who knows somebody who has a stent, that person is probably here today because of AHA-funded research. We’ve funded 13 Nobel Prize winners, and really make that a pillar of the work we do.”

Saturday’s event includes zumba, pilates, a three-mile walk and a one-mile walk.

Survivors will have a chance to run the bases at ONEOK Field, and there’s also something new this year.

“We have what’s called a ‘mega-heart’ and ‘mega-brain” educational exhibit. They are massive, inflatable walkthrough exhibits so that you can learn about the heart and brain by entering them,” Stephens told KRMG.

The 2019 Tulsa Heart Walk will be held at ONEOK Field on Saturday, April 20.

Gates open at 9:00 a.m. and the walks start at 10:00 a.m.