FORT WORTH, Texas — Back in 2015, when Carmen David welcomed her youngest daughter, she never imagined that her best day would become her worst day.
Hours after giving birth, David suffered an aortic dissection, a tear in the body’s biggest artery.
She was separated from her baby, whisked away, and put on a helicopter.
“My mind went to, ‘I’m gonna die,’” Davi said. “I just remember my family looking like that was the last time they were going to see me.”
Thankfully, doctors at UT Southwestern in Fort Worth patched her up and over time, David’s body slowly recovered, but her mind was immeasurably damaged.
“I was severely depressed,” she said. “I was just really a wreck and felt like I needed to find who I was again.”
A Navy veteran, David always had an active lifestyle, but now she struggled to even get out of bed, afraid that doing too much would be a death sentence.
“I didn’t want my kids growing up seeing that,” she said. “I felt like there was more for me to do than wallow away in my depression. I needed to do something to get out of this.”
Once David got back on her feet, she was off and running. And on a mission.
In 2017, she founded the Run for Aortic Health and in the eight years since, she’s raised more than $150 thousand for the John Ritter Foundation.
The ninth annual run is Saturday in Fort Worth.
She wants to raise even more money and awareness, educating those who are unaware of this condition and those who believe it only affects seniors.
More importantly, however, for survivors, she wants to provide hope.
“I’ve felt very called to helping other people,” David said. “I don’t want them to feel alone. I want them to know they have somebody to lean on and there are other resources and organizations to help them on the journey.”
Healing through compassion is a good first step.
For more information about the Run for Aortic Health, visit runforaortichealth.com/