Red Dress For a Cure Returns to Red Bank

Heart disease can strike at anytime. Dawn Caufield of Rumson knows this all too well. Doctors said that she had only a 0 to 2 percent chance of heart disease, but, the unthinkable happened – she had a widow maker heart attack. This means that 100 percent of her artery was blocked, and, while she was lucky enough to have recovered, millions are not.

With this in mind, a sea of red-dressed women gathered at Buona Sera on Thursday night in support of healthy heart awareness sponsored by Meridian Health. 

The event, labeled Red Dress for a Cure, returned for its third year, and was fully equipped with food, drinks, music, and six top designer dresses that were recently featured in New York City’s Spring 2011 Fashion Week. And, although the dresses made for a great environment, “heart disease doesn’t care what you wear,” was the message put frankly by the Heart Truth campaign. 

There it was – the unarguable truth that was announced throughout the night:  heart disease is the number one killer of women.

Laura Ahern, the director of community outreach for Meridian Health, however, insists that it’s more than just understanding the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. 

“It’s really about preventing heart disease,” she said.

Michaela Thayer, a representative of the Heart Truth campaign – a national movement that works with commercial and corporate partners to promote awareness (www.hearttruth.gov), – agrees. 

“Heart disease is 82 percent preventable,” she stated.

Because this dangerous disease is avoidable, Dr. Sara Grimley, the director of Women’s Heart Connection at Meridian, claims that we need to “arm ourselves with knowledge.” 

“As a community of women, we need to empower ourselves, to educate ourselves,” she said during her presentation.

To drive this point home, three survivors of heart disease shared their stories with the crowd. Along with Caufield, Susan Graham of Point Pleasant, and Nancy McMahon of Colts Neck took the stage while their stories were read. Each of these women had a unique account of their encounter with heart disease, and, thankfully, they all lived to share the tale with others who could be in the same position.

In order to avoid these situations, and to help women become informed, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) created the Red Dress in 2002 as a symbol of women with heart disease. This emblem has traveled all the way to the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York City. Celebrities such as Natasha Bedingfield and Patti Labelle modeled the dresses that were featured at this year’s event.

“We use celebrities instead of models because it allows the event to become more popular, and to therefore reach a wider audience,” Thayer said.

This is also the reason why Meridian Health and the Heart Truth paired together to sponsor tonight’s event. 

“It’s a fun way to build awareness, especially for women,” Ahern said. 

Mary Harmyk of West Long Branch and Mary Ann Heimbuck of Oceanport came to the event together after receiving a flier in the mail from Meridian.  “We really learned a lot from the event,” they asserted. 

Meridian sold 175 tickets at $50 each.  All of these proceeds go directly to funding women’s heart education programs and screenings.  These free events are held all year round.  For more information on Meridian's programs, please visit www.365daysofheart.com.