TORONTO - Olympic figure skater Joannie Rochette is speaking out about something that affects everyone but holds a special place for her – heart disease.
After losing her mother to heart disease during the 2010 Winter Olympics, Joannie was motivated to become more involved in raising awareness.
Women are generally thought to put their family's health ahead of their own, and as Joannie believes, putting others ahead of themselves could be detrimental to a woman's health. "I think for women, especially to mothers, they're always scared about their family. They always put their kids or family first and they don't necessarily think of themselves and that was exactly my mom," said Rochette.
At the time of her mother's illness Rochette was participating in the Olympics and believes that her mother did not inform her of symptoms because she did not want to add any more stress to her daughter's life. "I found in her purse, in her wallet, a little piece of paper where she wrote her symptoms. That she had pain in her left shoulder, trouble digesting and a lot of things like this," said Rochette.
Relatives of those with heart disease are often left with the feeling that had more information been provided, death could have been avoided.
"Had she told that to us or to our doctor, it probably could have saved her life," said Rochette.
To help raise awareness for heart disease, Rochette partnered with Omron - a company manufacturing heart blood pressure monitors - to remind Canadians how important home blood pressure monitoring is when it comes to reducing the risk of a stroke, heart attack or heart failure.
Rochette’s message is prevention. People should take stock of their health as early as possible, try to identify symptoms, monitor blood pressure at home as well as the doctor's office and pay attention to family medical history.
Symptoms are different in men and women so identifying them early and communicating them to your doctor are important.
Rochette is still skating. She has been on the program Stars on Ice, tours in the U.S. and Japan, competes once a year, and mentors young talent when possible.
In addition to raising awareness on heart disease she recently went back to school for a two-year program at CEGEP in Quebec studying health science to further her education.
Global News