JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One in three women will develop heart disease, and it's still the number one killer of all Americans. For years, the American Heart Association has used its Red Dress Pin to get women to understand that heart disease doesn't just affect men. The organization is ratcheting it up, asking women to pull out the boxing gloves and fight.
It's gritty, serious, and often times requires a fight ,and that's why women put on our game face. Women have been fighting to get the proper diagnosis for heart disease for years.
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"We've made a lot of difference in a lot of people's lives but we're still dying. We have to stop it because a lot of the risk factors are increasing not decreasing and that's where we have to start having better control," says Lori Strange-Paylor.
First Coast American Heart Association asked me to help with their latest campaign. We've been working together for years trying to raise awareness, get women to their doctors, and empower them to understand what's normal and what's not when it comes to their hearts.
"We can not survive. It's one in three in heart disease for women. We have to stop it, we don't want to be in the 43 million across the nation," says Strange-Paylor.
It's a message of strength, "We will not go quietly, we will go red!"
They're asking women to pull out red lipstick, shout with your eyes, take your picture and post to social media with the #jaxgoesred43 and challenge others to do the same.
"We really and truly want them to engage in these 43 days we want them to pick up the phone, go on social media, tell everyone that they know. Any woman that they care about to live a little healthier, do they know what the risk factors are, go to the doctor," says Strange-Paylor.
You'll see the campaign on billboards and also on social media. The American Heart Association has even paired up with nearly 200 young women at The University of North Florida with Alpha Phi sorority. The goal is to empower all women to get in the fight.
"I want you to own in embrace it and I want you to challenge it and then challenge your best friend to get out there with you. Your mother, your sister, whoever it might be and really and truly know that you don't want to be the one in three," says Strange-Paylor.
The goal is to reach 43,000 women with life-saving awareness in 43 days and raise $43,000 in honor of the 43 million women affected by heart disease. For more information or to donate click here.