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Over the weekend my wife Sue and I had the privilege of emceeing the 20th annual Heart Ball for the American Heart Association.  This year's theme at the Qwest Center was "Illumination" and it was tied to the great strides our community has made which parallel the tremendous strides made over the last twenty years in combating heart disease and stroke.

I spoke to a Cardiologist who described for me what it was like for him in treating a heart attack victim thirty years ago.  There simply was very little that could be done.   Now lives are saved through so many innovations including heart by-pass surgery, stints, pacemakers, and CPR.  Funding through the American Heart Association helped bring those innovations about. 

The American Heart Association’s life-saving work is measured by their Impact Goal, by 2010, to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent.  This Impact goal will help save 1,000,000 lives!    

The good news for local researchers is the successful Heart Ball that took place over the weekend with about a thousand people in attendance.  Through generous donations and volunteer work more than six-hundred thousand dollars was raised and it will stay in Nebraska to fund more work against heart disease and stroke.

It was great to be involved in such a first-class event.

Knicely Done!