HeartChase

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Nikki Wills became involved with the American Heart Association because her daughter, Maya, now 6, was born with a congenital heart defect. (Submitted photo)
Nikki Wills became involved with the American Heart Association because her daughter, Maya, now 6, was born with a congenital heart defect. (Submitted photo)

American Heart Association event comes to Noblesville

Maya Wills enjoys riding a horse with her father, Jamison.
Maya Wills enjoys riding a horse with her father, Jamison.

Six years ago, Maya Wills was born with a congenital heart defect.

“We were unaware. At the time she was born, only 50 percent of heart defects are noted,” said Maya’s mother, Nikki Wills. “It’s hard to go through something like that especially when you are not expecting it.”

In her short life, Maya has undergone three surgeries – the most recent being last summer. This fall, Maya will be a first-grade student at White River Elementary School.

“She’s doing great, really well,” Nikki said. “You would never know when you met her she has a heart condition.”

The Wills family became involved with American Heart Association when they were looking to find out more information about Maya’s condition. Since then, Nikki has become a volunteer and advocate for the organization.

“I really strongly believe the American Heart Association can raise awareness and research to prevent congenital heart disease,” she said. “Resources are critical because things that can be done for our daughter 10 to 20 years down the road could be significant for her.”

Nikki is now helping to bring more awareness to Hamilton County through the inaugural Noblesville HeartChase.

“It gives people who live in Hamilton County an opportunity to participate in an event with the American Heart Association in their own backyard instead of downtown Indianapolis,” she said. “It also gives the American Heart Association an opportunity to talk about its message and prevention to lower your risk of heart attack or stroke which is important in today’s society.”

Know more

The American Heart Association’s HeartChase is an innovative community event that provides a fun, new way to promote healthy living and support a great cause. The HeartChase event brings families, friends and coworkers of all ages together in a community-wide competition to uncover clues, solve puzzles and complete challenges in a race to the finish line.

Cardiovascular disease and stroke are the nation’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers and much of these problems can be reduced or even eliminated with healthy living, exercise and healthy lifestyle habits. The AHA wants to spread the mission and save more lives. No one gets healthy by accident, so get involved and be a part of the healthy solution for everyone.

Tim Harms of the American Heart Association described HeartChase as a combination of “Amazing Race” and “Minute to Win It.”

“On the day of the event, a free HeartChase app can be downloaded to a player’s smartphone. The app then gives instructions to the team to complete 10 challenges located in different locations nearby,” he said.

Maya Wills, center, prepares for a day at school as Jamison and Nikki wait with her.
Maya Wills, center, prepares for a day at school as Jamison and Nikki wait with her.

The Noblesville HeartChase will take place at 8 a.m. July 13 in Dillon Park, 6001 Edenshall Lane.

“It’s the perfect location to have the event because it is spread out and allows people to move from station to station,” Nikki said. “People even have the splash pool to cool off when they’re done.”

Each of the 10 checkpoints will feature a heart-healthy activity to complete. Harms said the goal is to show people that exercise can be fun. It’s also a fun team-building game for friends, family or co-workers. Nikki said the event will last no more than two hours.

“It’s meant to be a fun activity to raise your heart rate,” she said, adding activities include walking on treadmills, doing jumping jacks and not-traditional healthy activities like forming a human chain with pool noodles. “It’s fun activities to do with your family.”

“The 10 challenges for Noblesville still are being finalized, however, we expect a Hands-Only CPR station, a F.A.S.T. cornhole game (FAST is an acronym for stroke warning signs), and a game where you have to guess the number of calories in a food and then work them off,” he said.

Nikki said teams typically comprise four members, but can range from three to five participants. Cost is $25 per person and those interested in pre-registering can do so online at http://honor.americanheart.org\Noblesville.

“When you have a traumatic event, it’s nice to know you have the support of your community to stand behind you and support you. We’ve had a lot of people that supported us through the process,” she said. “It’s really important for people to understand how the American Heart Association creates programs and does research that saves people’s lives.”


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