- I am so excited to be at your school today.
And today we are kicking off your school's
Kid Heart Challenge.
I know you were working hard
to keep your hearts healthy
and help people with special hearts.
I'm also super excited because I get to take you
on a virtual road trip with my Heart Heroes.
Are you ready to see
what kids heart challenge is all about this year?
I can't hear you. Are you ready?
First, we have Finn, he is our leader
and he uses leadership to help others,
and is brave when it comes to stopping bullies.
Finn is kind of like a crush
who is always helping others.
Who here likes to help others?
Then we have Nico,
Nico loves to move and jump and dance
and get 60 minutes of exercise a day.
Look at Super Pup.
Super Pup is all about gratitude and kindness.
Often sending kindness cards,
which you can find
in the Kids Heart Challenge app,
and send too.
I can't wait for you to meet Jax.
Jax knows that small hands can help big.
And Jax's favorite place to help is,
you guessed that,
the American Heart Association.
Jax loves to protect your health.
On to my Sky.
Sky says no to tobacco and vaping,
and scares those nasty habits
right out of her school.
We also have Dash, he has one active person.
Dash, who loves to be
physically active as possible.
He makes sure to get
60 minutes of exercise a day.
Savanna Bolt is so bright and fun
and he loves the water so much.
It's his favorite drink too.
Also, he chooses it over sugary beverages
like sodas and sports drinks.
Echo loves to be colorful as possible.
In fact, Echo likes color so much
that a colorful plate
is her favorite thing on the planet.
When I count to three
yell out your favorite fruit 1, 2, 3.
And last but not least meet Rory McFiercely.
Rory isn't afraid to being kind to others.
What do you think about my Heart Heroes?
Who thinks they can collect all 10?
I have a great team of Heart Heroes this year
and you have the chance to earn all of them.
For each $5 you've raised by heart disease.
I want to introduce them to you now too.
Today you're going to get a letter
from your school.
The letter looks like this.
It's going to help let your parents know
that your family can be Heart Heroes together.
And for every $5 you raise,
you get to meet one of my Heart Heroes.
Now that we've met our team
of Heart Hero explorers,
I want to talk about a team you can be a part of.
On this team you would get to help
kids with special hearts,
have a lot of fun and do things
to help your own heart beat healthy and strong.
Do you have a friend with a special heart?
I do, his name is Slade,
I want you to meet him.
- My name is Carly Middlebrook.
I am the mother of a precious 18 month old
named Slade.
My husband's name is Taylor
and we live in Granbury, Texas.
Slade's heart journey began on August 19th,
just 12 days after his first birthday.
The next morning I got a phone call
and somebody had gotten ahold of his EKG
and told me that they had seen signs
of Brugada syndrome and
that we needed to come back for further testing.
So Slade, my husband and I went in
for another EKG.
And that's when
he was formally diagnosed with Brugada syndrome.
Brugada syndrome is a genetic heart condition
that leads to sudden cardiac arrest.
At the time, we did not realize
that Slade's seizure-like episode
was actually cardiac arrest.
His cardiologist informed us
that Slade would need to stay through the weekend
on 24 hour monitoring,
and that following Monday,
he would undergo heart surgery
to have an ICD placed.
I remember talking to
one of Slade's cardiologists post heart surgery,
and she had told me that Slade situation
was beyond medicine,
because this is something
that Slade will continue to live with
for the rest of his life.
But with his great care team
and the American Heart Association
continuing to raise awareness
and our great support system,
I know that this is something
that we're gonna be able to get through
every single day.
Slade has recovered from his surgery
and is doing wonderfully.
He's extremely energetic,
he loves playing outside.
He loves people
and he is truly just the light of our lives.
So thankful for the American Heart Association
for all of the research and time and effort,
as well as the money
that they put towards raising awareness
for several different heart conditions for kids,
just like Slade.
- Wow, did you know that you're a part
of your school's Kids Heart Challenge team?
You can raise money
to help find cures and medicines
for kids like Slade.
Can you believe that you can help Finn
and earn my awesome Heart Heroes?
For every $5 you raised
for Kids Heart Challenge,
you get to choose one of my Heart Heroes
for your clip.
Raise $50 and you've collected all 10.
Wow, that's a lot.
Who thinks they can raise $50?
Then you'd get all 10 of my heroes,
Who thinks they can raise more than $50?
Well, you'll be able to get more heroes.
for every $5 for yourself to have double heroes,
or if you wanted to share with a friend
or family member.
Did you know what you can do
with the Kids Heart Challenge app?
You can do Finn's mission.
It is so easy and fun.
You get to learn how to be a heart healthy,
and you can even earn the Finn's life saver award,
to your Heart Hero collection.
So I need to see,
dance in place if you're going to download
the Kids Heart Challenge app.
Wow, that's a lot of you.
When you download the app,
you will also be asked to take
a personal challenge
for a happy and healthy heart.
You can choose, be kind or be active.
What do you search in the app store
to download the Kids Heart Challenge app?
Can you say it with me?
Can you say it with me on 3?
1, 2, 3 Kids Heart Challenge.
That's right, the app is super cool.
It's full of fun games and Finn's mission too.
Plus you can use it
to bring our Heart Heroes to life.
Excellent ride.
I learned a lot on that road trip.
What was your favorite part?
So who is going to go home tonight,
and register on the kit AHC app
and pick the challenge to be kind or be active.
I can't hear you.
Who is going home to register on the KHC app?
Awesome.
I'm so excited to see
how many lives you helped save,
how you keep your heart healthy
and everything you learned
during Kids Heart Challenge.