The Woman of Impact campaign is underway through April 10 and these women — Amy Van Kleunen, Carolyn Donaldson, Cassie Fisher, Maureen Letcher, Gina Lechene and Mandy Lasinsky — are sharing how heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and peripheral artery disease has impacted them and their families.

It’s part of the Go Red for Women initiative, a comprehensive platform designed to increase women’s heart health awareness and serve as a catalyst for change to improve the lives of women globally. While the majority of cardiac events can be prevented, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, claiming the lives of 1 in 3 women, according to the AHA.

Each nominee created an Impact Team composed of members of their network, set a goal and is fundraising through various activities in the community to directly impact women’s health. The nominee whose network makes the largest impact locally will be named the Blair 2025 Woman of Impact winner. In addition to local community winners, one changemaker from across the country will be named the National Woman of Impact winner on April 15.

“At the American Heart Association, as we enter our second century of lifesaving work, our future is about improving yours. Women motivate, educate and inspire each other. When it comes to their health, women have the best resource; they have each other,” said Vanessa Houser, development director for the American Heart Association. “That is why we are thrilled that these women have joined us in our relentless efforts to make a measurable difference on women’s heart health in Blair County.”

Donaldson

Historically, heart disease and heart attack have been predominantly associated with men, said Caye Gummo, practice manager for UPMC Blair Medical Cardiology. “Women in general tend to be overlooked when it comes to our health, so that is why the Go Red campaign is so important. As women, we need to know our key numbers and prioritize work/life balance. Work stress is one of the key risk factors,” for heart disease, she said, with high work stress comparable to the risk level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Gummo recommends women become more aware of the mind, heart and body connection.

“I know for myself I try to be aware of what I eat and eat right, I exercise and take care of myself by getting proper sleep. All these things go into taking care of yourself and affect your ability to deal with stress,” she said.

Gummo spent the first eight years of her career as an ultrasound echocardiographer. Cardiovascular diseases and related deaths have risen nationally especially for women and new mothers. Preeclampsia — high blood pressure associated with pregnancy — has increased 25% in the past two decades.

Cardiovascular disease has also touched her family. Her father suffered a life-threatening aortic dissection, which was successfully treated. However, it was discovered he has a familial genetic disease that causes protein to build up in the heart. Gummo was tested and also carries the gene.

Fisher

“(Detection) was a wake-up call and gave me the motivation to take better care of myself,” she said. “It’s something down the road that I’m at very high risk for,” she said. So she’s “passionate” that women understand the importance of heart health and being knowledgeable about risk factors.

“We, as women, tend to put ourselves on the back burner. This campaign is to encourage women to prioritize their own health and make sure they are taking care of themselves.”

Historically, men have been the subjects of the research done to understand heart disease and stroke, which has been the basis for treatment guidelines and programs. This led to an oversimplified, distorted view of heart disease and risk, which has worked to the detriment of women, according to the AHA. Awareness among women has also suffered. Only 55% of women realize heart disease is their No. 1 killer and fewer than half know what are considered healthy levels for cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol. The Go Red for Women movement works to make sure women know they are at risk so they can take action to protect their health.

Participants in Woman of Impact

For Amy Van Kleunen, 46, of Duncansville, heart disease has impacted three generations of her family. Her grandfather died at age 57 due to an enlarged heart from cardiomyopathy in 1989. Shortly before her father turned 57, he received a heart transplant. Now 72, she described her father as a “miracle at 72 years old.”

Lasinsky

“I’m very aware of how fragile life can be. We need to take care of our hearts,” she said, adding she has the same disease but the knowledge has empowered her and set her on a better, different path than her predecessors.

“I want people to know that the research, technology and medications will help me not go down that same road. I want to reach as many women as possible and empower them and our community that 80 percent of heart disease can be prevented by eating smart and exercising.”

Former TV anchor turns to advocacy

Former WTAJ anchor Carolyn Donaldson, 63, of State College had a “wake-up call” when her mother died of heart attack in 2008.

“My family has been affected by heart disease from my great-grandparents to my grandparents and to my mother, who died at an early age of a heart attack,” she said. “That was a wake-up call for me and I started running to combat what I thought was a genetic predisposition.”

Letcher

She also saw the impact of heart disease through the stories she covered and told on air and was so moved that in 2014, she and Beverly Green co-founded the Go Red dinner held locally each May as a replacement for a previous event to raise money for heart research, heart health awareness and advocacy.

“I’ve had this heart disease fighting mission for a while now,” she said, noting it took on added meaning when testing revealed she has a slight heart arrhythmia. Now on medication to control it, she sees a cardiologist annually.

“I continue to exercise and am very active in most outdoor activities like hiking and downhill skiing,” Donaldson said. “I walk daily and try to get 20,000 steps in a day and practice yoga. I’m also very health conscious with my eating.”

Nurse practitioner seeks to educate

Cassandra “Cassie” Fisher has devoted her life to helping others and sees this effort as an extension of her life’s work. A nurse practitioner in BMA Cardiology’s Bedford office, she began her career while still in high school, serving as a dietary aide at a local nursing home while completing training to become a nurse’s aide through a program at Bedford High School. She continuously obtained more education and earned a four-year degree in nursing and then became a nurse practitioner in 2021. The 28-year-old has worked and advocated for heart health in her role to bring cardiology services to the underserved area.

Lechene

“Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women, yet women are underdiagnosed and undertreated. From receiving bystander CPR to facing inequities in care, women deserve better,” she said. “I’ve been touched by so many of my patients’ stories along the way.”

Education is key, Fisher said, recounting how a friend and another woman were walking when the woman pushed on with their exercise because she didn’t recognize that her shortness of breath was a sign of a heart attack.

“I teach women and everyone what to look for and the various danger signs,” Fisher said. “Women often don’t present with chest pain. This woman attributed her shortness of breath to being out of shape. It doesn’t have to be extremely severe symptoms.”

Fortunately, the woman received successful treatment.

She encourages women to know their health status and to focus on factors they can control.

“I start the conversation. What are their habits? Do they exercise, drink enough water, know their family history of heart disease, do they sleep well? There’s a need for more self-care for women of all ages and all backgrounds. I find so often women of all ages are caring for so many others and putting themselves on the back burner, but you can’t pour from an empty cup.”

Awareness and education help women make important changes like stopping smoking.

“How are you to change if no one has ever told you? After a conversation, they’re more likely to say, ‘this isn’t good for me,'” Fisher said.

Nurse practitioner teaches CPR

Throughout her career treating patients with advanced heart disease, Mandy Lasinsky has often wished she could go back in time and deliver a warning message. This campaign provides the nurse practitioner at UPMC Blair Medical Cardiology such an opportunity.

A Summerhill, Cambria County, resident, Lasinsky, 49, takes care of cardiology patients in the outpatient setting. However, earlier in her career she worked elsewhere in a critical care unit helping patients recover from open heart surgery. She is also a CPR instructor for the AHA.

“I would see patients in such a debilitated state. I wished we could have intervened sooner,” she said. Today, through her work and this campaign, she hopes to emphasize the heart disease prevention message.

She, too, has seen how cardiovascular disease impacts everyone. Her mother suffered a stroke during the COVID-19 pandemic, received successful treatment and recovered.

“My big message is prevention. How can you prevent (a stroke or heart attack) from happening in the first place? Do you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes? Knowing what your blood pressure is and what your ideal weight should be is a place to start. I get a lot of questions about diet and exercise,” she said.

She recommends limiting red meat and dairy and watching how much saturated fats are consumed. As for exercise, 150 minutes of exercise a week is ideal.

“Eat higher amounts of protein from fish, chicken and nuts and make red meat the least (eaten). I remind patients to eat everything in moderation as a starting point. UPMC has many life coaching programs available, such as nutrition counseling and smoking cessation. Smoking cessation is key to preventing cardiovascular episodes,” she recommended. It’s also helpful to reduce using the salt shaker and limit consumption of canned and processed foods, as these contribute to elevated blood pressure.

“Often by making dietary changes, you can keep your blood pressure from creeping up and avoid taking more medications,” she said.

Educator hopes to increase knowledge

Hollidaysburg Area Senior High Principal Maureen Letcher knows CPR and AEDs saved the life of her student, Spencer Davis, so she’s driven to raise awareness and get more people trained to administer such life-saving aid.

During football practice in September, Davis, 16, suffered a blow to the chest that stopped his heart from beating in a normal rhythm. According to the American Heart Association, commotio cordis happens to fewer than 10 people a year. Fortunately for Spencer, coaches began CPR and used an automatic external defibrillator to save his life. His family has started The Spencer Davis Foundation to spread awareness of CPR and increase access to AEDs.

Letcher, 52, of Duncansville has joined in their efforts for this campaign.

Arriving at the field as the ambulance pulled away, Letcher went to work helping those who saved Spencer. “It was something unbelievable that traumatized people,” she said. “We arranged for counselors to talk to the players, coaches and everyone involved. It was a lot to go through even though he was going to be OK.”

As a breast cancer survivor, Letcher knows the value of advocacy, outreach and education. She’s sharing the Go Red message of heart health awareness with students, especially young women. She learned through her previous cancer journey that women are often underdiagnosed, underrepresented in research and undertreated in health research. She wants to increase awareness to all but especially to young women.

Passionate about prevention

Gina Lechene, 41, of Patton has witnessed the devastation caused by heart disease, especially cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle which makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood effectively.

“I’m a mother, daughter, sister and niece of women in my family who have struggled with heart disease,” she said. She is also a nurse practitioner and supervisor of advanced practice providers at UPMC Blair Medical Associates in Altoona and Bedford. “I’ve seen lives cut far too short. So I’m passionate about prevention. I’m doing this for the betterment of my family and my community.”

In a previous position and through a family member’s experiences, she’s seen the lifesaving impact of organ donation and transplants. Another passion is taking care of her own health through exercise, healthy eating and being a positive role model for her four children.

“I want to live a long and healthy life for my kids. Someday when I’m 95, I want to still be doing fun stuff and playing with my grandkids. A healthy life promotes longevity.”

Mirror Staff Writer Patt Keith is at 814-949-7030.