Watch CBS News

People Get The Chance To Help Strike Out Heart Disease At Phillies Ballpark

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Today and tomorrow, the 20th Annual "Home Runs For Heart" is taking place at Citizens Bank Park.

The event benefits the American Heart Association.

That sound you hear is the crack of the bat. Alanna Gardiner didn't hear a sound or feel much of anything five years ago as she was training for the Broad Street Run.

"So we did a pre-race just to kind of warm up, and oddly enough it was the Organ Donor Dash."

Little did she know, she would nearly die at the finish line.

"When I woke up there was tubes, IVs, a tube down my throat. I was like, 'man I must be really dehydrated.' And so, they took the tubes out and were like, "Yeah so you went into cardiac arrest, you had a massive heart attack."

Gardiner, just 25 at the time, spent three days in a coma. She now volunteers with Home Runs For Heart to spread the word about heart disease.

Ali Long with the American Heart Association says, "Home Runs For Heart is part of our Healthy For Good movement through the American Heart Association. So Healthy For Good is really about the idea that we can rally millions of Americans around simple ideas like just being more active."

As for Alanna,  I joined her in the batting cages. She says she's feeling great and is back to an active lifestyle.

"I spin like seven times a week. I teach seven classes over at flywheel. "

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.