VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — More than 2,000 people signed up to walk the Virginia Beach boardwalk on Saturday in support of CPR education.
The Hampton Roads Southside Heart Walk followed a similar event at Fort Monroe earlier this month. The American Heart Association held both fundraisers in support of CPR education outreach and getting more people trained in the potentially lifesaving method.
According to the Heart Association, around nine out of ten of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital do not survive, often because bystanders do not perform CPR in time.
Prior to Saturday's event beginning at 24th Street Park, the nonprofit said it had a fundraising goal of $425,000 and then during the event announced more than $444,000 had been raised.
A group of heart transplant recipients from Sentara cut the ribbon for the walk after raising $10,000, including Rufe Vanderpool, who received his heart from a donor four years ago.
“When you find out what the American Heart Association funds, you know, a lot of the reasons I can stand here and talk to you comes from this organization," he told News 3. “I’m on bonus time. I shouldn’t be able to stand here but I am.”
News 3 previously spoke with Vanderpool and his heart failure support group at Sentara in October.
This was the Southside Heart Walk's first time being held at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront after spending previous years at Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake City Park.
