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Ohio Valley Heart Walk Raises $72,000 for American Heart Association

By SHELLEY HANSON 4 min read

WHEELING - Ohio Valley Heart Walk participants raised $72,000 for the American Heart Association during the annual event held Thursday at Wheeling Park.

Hundreds of people turned out for the event - individuals and those representing businesses - that not only raised money for the association's research efforts, but also honored heart attack and stroke survivors.

Wheeling resident Ken Halloy, a three-time stroke survivor, said he had his first stroke in 2008 while living in Columbus, Ohio. He did not have many issues following his first stroke and three years later had another one.

"I wasn't a very good patient," Halloy said. "I didn't take care of myself like I should have. I didn't eat healthy and I drank."

He said his third stroke in 2018 paralyzed the left side of his body. He spent the next 2½ years in recovery and decided to move back to the Ohio Valley. He was told by his new doctor that he needed a pacemaker immediately or he would likely die in a few months.

"A few months after that I got my life together. ... I got remotivated. Jesus Christ came back into my life," Halloy said.

Today, Halloy enjoys helping organize fundraisers for various causes including the Ohio Valley Heart Walk. He is a member of the walk's executive committee.

Bellaire area resident Christopher Albaugh, a heart attack survivor, also participated in the walk. He wore a red hat covered in pins representing the many Heart Walks he has been in over the years.

Albaugh said he had a heart attack in 2012. He was on a walk with his son, Cody, when he started feeling bad.

"I spent the evening kind of sitting around. I got up the next morning and went to the hospital, and (cardiologist Dr. Richard Fanning) checked me out and told me I had a heart attack," Albaugh said. "I got a stent put in my widowmaker. It's been a long journey. It's been a good journey."

Albaugh said he was surprised to learn he had a heart attack.

"It was something different. I knew it something was serious. It didn't feel like anything I had experienced before," he said, adding his symptoms were fatigue, cold chills and he was a little short of breath.

"I didn't have chest pain, but my body felt like it was slowing down," he added. "Dr. Fanning said if I hadn't gone to the hospital when I did I probably wouldn't be here."

Albaugh said he now makes sure to take his medicines, go to his yearly checkups, eat right and he walks "all the time."

He supports the Heart Walk because of his history and his family's history with heart problems. He advises people to listen to what their bodies are telling them.

"Don't question it. If you feel something that feels odd or feels off, go" to the emergency room, he said. "The main thing is to try and live a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy life one day at a time. Tomorrow is not promised."

Among the groups that helped raise money for the walk was St. John Central Academy. Vince Gianangeli, the school's public relations and development director, is also a member of the walk's executive committee. He said in his new role at the academy he is trying to get the students more active community events like the Heart Walk.

"We raised $1,250," he said. "We want to start them off very young so they know to give back. It's part of our community service. It's great because a lot of kids who are in our school understand that."

Lauren Thomas, American Heart Association development director, said the money is used for heart disease research all across the country including at institutions like West Virginia University and Marshall University in West Virginia and Ohio State University in Ohio.

Before the walk began, Katie Campsey, wife of the walk's chairman, Dr. Michael Campsey of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, said her husband, a stroke survivor himself, was out of state raising money for another one his causes.

Starting at /week.