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I saw many people who had advanced heart disease and I was so frustrated because I knew if they just knew how to do the right thing, simple lifestyle and diet steps, that the entire trajectory of their life and health would have been different.

I think I was able to survive five heart attacks because I never postponed going to the hospital when something didn't feel right.

Except for the occasional heart attack, I never felt better.

The importance of heart health became very real for me when my father died of heart disease seven years ago. Having experienced the loss first hand, I am inspired to do everything I can to break the cycle and prevent families from losing loved ones to this preventable disease.

I know that I'm very lucky to be alive. For 35 or 40 years I've spilt my blood and broke my bones and spent years in hospitals.

I was convinced that eventually I would die of heart disease, that we'd run out of time and out of treatment, the technology wouldn't keep ahead of my disease. And now all of the sudden, when you get the new heart, your life opens up before you again.

I feel blessed that I haven't seen or felt real pain to be immune to it. But I am dreading the time it comes. I feel blessed to have everything going fine. My parents' health is good, my brothers are well-settled, I have a great brother-in-law and my own career is doing fine. I hope and pray that I am fit and fine always.

Cardiac depression is very powerful; it's very black; it's very dark. What I've learned to do is get out of my head and get into my heart. And it just sounds like an easy thing - it was difficult at first - to truly recognize moment to moment how fortunate I am.

I've been very lucky in everything, really - in my career and in finding someone to share my life with, and in not dying.