Eleven-year-old Audra Sims has a big heart.
As she and her mother, Angela, were driving by Arizona Heart Hospital, Audra decided she wanted to raise money to help cardiac patients in her honor of her dad, LaMont Sims-Bey.
North Central youth Audra Sims received a heart-shaped pillow signed by Arizona Heart Hospital staffers in appreciation of her fundraising effort (submitted photo).
When Audra was 1 year old, her dad had his first heart attack. Arizona Heart Hospital doctors and nurses got his heart beating again and saved his life.
“We were extremely grateful that he was given a second chance. When he left the hospital, he lost weight, took the recommended medications and made diet changes to improve his health,” Angela recalled. “Unfortunately, he died in 2010 of a heart attack while he was in his car at a golf course.”
Audra is happy that the doctors and nurses helped her dad live another six years so she could get to know him.
With her mother’s help, the North Central youth started a GoFundMe web page to ask donations from family and friends. On Nov. 21, she donated $250 to the nonprofit Arizona Heart Foundation, which is located on the campus of Abrazo Health’s Arizona Heart Hospital. She also had raised $250 for Phoenix Children’s Hospital, is located nearby.
“I wanted to provide help and support for heart patients,” Audra explained.
To thank Audra, Cindy Roberts, Arizona Heart Hospital’s director of Acute Cardiovascular Treatment, presented her with a heart-shaped pillow signed by hospital staff members. Roberts also took Audra and Angela on a tour of the Arizona Heart Hospital.
The Arizona Heart Foundation works with health care professionals, the public and community, and corporations to support medical research, education, and public awareness of heart and vascular disease. For more information, visit www.azheartfoundation.org.
