A dedicated advocate for heart health, Stephanie Faul turned her personal experience with a rare postpartum heart attack into action, raising awareness and funds as a 2024 Leader of Impact with the American Heart Association.
Tell me about your background.
I was originally born and raised in Ohio. After I graduated from Ohio State, my husband and I moved down to Florida because he started working at CSX, so a couple years after being down here I began working as a teacher at Palmer Catholic Academy in Ponte Vedra. After I had my first child we bounced around to Boston and then back to Ohio until we eventually came back down here because we missed it so much. Right now I'm a stay at home mom with my three kids.
You’re involved with the American Heart Association. How did that come about?
After my third child, when I was five weeks postpartum, I experienced a SCAD (spontaneous coronary arterial dissection) heart attack. They're rare and they typically happen to postpartum women in their late 30s. I had no prior heart issues, so it came out of nowhere. I experienced a heart attack in Target and the ambulance ended up taking me to Mayo Clinic, where I had emergency open heart surgery for a double bypass. Afterwards, I became passionate about heart health awareness, especially for women, because my symptoms were atypical. I met another woman in Atlantic Beach who’d had the same kind of heart attack, and through mutual friends she introduced me to the American Heart Association.
What type of work do you do for the American Heart Association?
After joining them for a while, they asked if I would be a 2024 Leader of Impact in their campaign to raise money for heart health awareness. I was absolutely floored and just floored by the response of the community and friends and family. It was a fundraising competition where five or six of us leaders in the Jacksonville area raised money specifically for the Northeast Florida American Heart Association branch. I set up tables in the community to fundraise and hand out pamphlets, to get out there and make people aware. Together, the First Coast Leaders of Impact Nominees raised almost $23,000 in lifesaving funds.
What have you enjoyed the most about volunteering with the American Heart Association?
They truly care about people. They really do. The people that I worked with were so passionate about reaching out and getting their resources from this nonprofit to our community, and that really resonated with me. They're really passionate about the impact they have on our local community, and like I said, that really spoke to me.
Looking towards the future, what are your plans for working with the American Heart Association?
They have their annual Heart Ball in March at the Sawgrass Marriott, and that's a big event that I'll be attending. I'd love to continue working with them. They're wonderful people, passionate about health, passionate about the community. I don't know if going and speaking about my experience is the best way to do it, but however I can be helpful to them and get this message across to the community, I want to do it. It could happen to you, happen to your family, and I think it’s important to use these resources that are in our community.
Why do you feel it’s so important for people to stay on top of their health, especially their heart health?
In my personal experience, I was healthy. There was nothing wrong before this, no prior issues, and I wasn't aware that it could even happen to me. I'm very, very lucky that I was at Target, that I was able to reach out for help. So, I think it's about educating ourselves about our health and realizing that life is very fast paced right now, and it's only getting faster. It's so important to slow yourself down and take care of yourself, because you want to enjoy life and not miss it. I have kids, and that's so important to me, but also my community, my friends, my family, all of that – I just want to slow down and enjoy and not miss it. I really hope that everyone slows down and takes care of themselves so that they can enjoy life.
