To help shed light on heart disease, the #1 killer of both men and women, Anna Jaques Hospital and The Tannery Marketplace have embarked on an important heart disease awareness and prevention public service campaign. On Saturday morning at the Tannery Marketplace the torch tour kicked off with Deb Chiaravalloti from Anna Jaques Hospital giving to torch to Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday and who officailly proclaimed Saturday “Healthy Heart Day”.
Mayor Holaday accepted the torch on behalf of the campaign and handed it off to Michele DeMarco Wilkie, a two-time heart attack survivor at the young age of 33. Wilkie spoke passionately about healing the “whole in her heart” and about how she was “made whole agian in mind body and spirit”.
A large crowd gathered to hear Michelle talk about her experience battling heart disease and her inspiring story of survival. She then passed on the torch to local long-distance runner Rick Bayko, and the Tannery Marketplace running team who will ran with the torch up State Street with Newburyport Pedicab following. It was a fantastic kick off to the two week event.
