Like many his age, 50 year-old Gene Juillet thought he was in pretty good shape, but while pushing his lawnmower on a very hot day he began to sweat heavily and felt a slight tingling down his left arm. It worsened until the pressure in his chest felt like someone was sitting on top of him. Thankfully, Gene’s daughter called 911 because on the way to the hospital, Gene went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. The EMTs applied an AED, which, after several attempts, restarted his heart. At the hospital, doctors placed a stent but told him his heart was so damaged that most of his left ventricle would never work again. Once in the ICU, Gene began to bleed internally and doctors discovered a rupture in his femoral artery. Because his heart was too weak, he was sent home for 6 weeks of bed rest before returning to have his open heart surgery where arteries were removed from his legs and then used in a quadruple bypass. Gene was told that about 1/3 of his damaged heart was removed the void was replaced with multiple layers of Dacron and Teflon, all held together with glue.
Gene Juillet is a living example of how research, and the work of the American Heart Association, saves lives. Gene feels that he now is living his “second life” because he--quite literally--died and was brought back to life through many life-saving procedures founded on the work of the American Heart Association. Because he’s concerned his daughters will inherit heart disease, he has made it his mission to “turn a bad thing into a good thing by helping other people who are living with heart disease.” Gene finds Advocacy a great avenue for him to make a difference because he enjoys sharing his story with elected officials to show the importance of heart and stroke-related public policies. He has never turned back.
In seven short years, Gene has become a fixture of advocacy in PA. Gene has served on the PA Advocacy Committee as a Field Representative for PA’s 6th Congressional District for the past five years and remains a top-tier action taker, both in on-line and off-line actions. He particularly enjoys making phone calls and attending in-district meetings with his legislators and he never misses a state or federal lobby day. Most recently, Gene was chosen over many others throughout the Great Rivers Affiliate to attend The White House Community Leaders Briefing on Cardiovascular Disease in Washington, DC. During the briefing, Gene shared his story in front of all the attendees and suggested some ways for more action at the community level to combat cardiovascular disease. Gene also attended the PA Clean Indoor Air bill signing with the Governor, sponsor of the bill, and many other dignitaries with whom he was able to meet with and thank them for passage of the law. His passion and dedication to advancing the AHA mission is evident to everyone he comes into contact with.
Gene’s dedication to the American Heart Association doesn’t stop at Advocacy! In his quest to “spread the word,” Gene has participated in 7 Philadelphia Heart Walks – both raising money and helping at the Advocacy table – and has attended many Go Red events. He also has spent the last 7 years speaking to students at Villanova University at the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine as well as to medical students at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine to provide a patient’s perspective on living with heart disease. During his discussions, he shares the AHA mission and discusses many of the current policy issues we’re working on.
A 2012 Great Rivers Affiliate Distinguished Achievement Award recipient, Gene lives and breathes the work of the AHA and feels it is his personal mission to help AHA accomplish its mission. In his words, “One person can make a difference and I feel that this is just the beginning of a lot more that I can do, through the help of the AHA.”
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