Hannah Keime from Heartcharged!

Hey everyone! Welcome to another article from EmpoweringMED and this time, we'll be featuring our VERY FIRST EVENT with Hannah Keime from Heartcharged. Throughout the article, you will be drawn into the details of the event, what we covered, interesting insights, and get to know who Hannah is! This article is written by our Journal Coordinator, Arani and edited by our Editor-in-Chief, Trisha so credits to them for putting this together! If you're interested in finding out more about the event, feel free to visit our YouTube channel for the recordings! Remember to also like and subscribe to be notified of our future events at the very first moment.

With that said, let's dive right into today's content.

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Recently, EmpoweringMED held an interview with Hannah Keime from Heartcharged. During the interview, she discussed her experience with HCM, talked about her organization, and participated in a Q & A period with the audience.

Hannah is currently a full-time film school student who runs a nonprofit organization called Heartcharged, alongside her very own eBay business. TV shows and movies are always her go to for comfort, but she also enjoys spending lots of quality time with her family and friends. Hannah is big on creativity; she loves writing scripts for original film ideas to keep her mind active.

Hannah suffers from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) - a heart disease in which the heart walls thicken due to a genetic mutation, thus drastically affecting its functionality. Instead of letting her condition hold her back, Hannah is determined to prove that her illness does not define her.

She has dedicated Heartcharged to those who may be going through a situation similar to her own; she wants to ensure that those affected know they are not alone. When asked to give advice to those suffering, she spoke about how “it is hard to measure strength when you are physically weak,” but also emphasized looking for inner strength and understanding that “every individual is strong in their own way.” She also noted that being “a patient with patience” is key when dealing with any medical condition, because treatment and potential recovery is always a journey.

Through Heartcharged, Hannah hopes to be able to:

• Continue sharing her story

• Get legislation for mandatory screenings around every two years

• Ensure schools are prepared with CPR and AED training in case of emergencies

• Break down myths about AEDs and CPR training

• Use the grant Heartcharged has received to put together welcome care packages

• Remind people that they are not alone and have a support community

Heart diseases like HCM touch people worldwide, affecting 350,000 people in the U.S.A alone. They are known as one of the leading killers of women, but the government is not doing much to combat this. Additionally, the American Heart Association does not allocate an adequate amount of funding towards education and research in regards to heart conditions.

HCM - like many other heart conditions - has quite a few mental health affects and can negatively affect one’s perception of themselves and their body image. Some people are afraid to mention having a condition due to the fear of being viewed and treated differently. This stigma is also reducing the number of people getting screened and tested, hampering their potential for proper treatment and care. Hannah hopes that through the Heartcharged community, people will be able to connect and share their experiences, as well as foster advice from a personal and non-scientific perspective.

Hannah’s Experience

After almost passing away in her sleep due to heart fluctuations caused by HCM, Hannah has a newfound appreciation for the internal defibrillator she wears. The shocks it provided to regulate her heart beat saved her life, and it continued to do so once more, this time even being clearly caught on camera. The second instance happened as she was participating in a lip-sync contest with her best friend at school. She recalls feeling anxious before the performance with an elevated heart rate, but wrote it off as regular nerves. Then sometime during the performance, she felt her vision get tunneled and dark, accompanied by two large weights on her chest. She felt almost thrown backwards and had originally assumed her friend had accidentally hit her. However, she realized that she had been shocked twice by her defibrillator upon watching footage from the performance and seeing that her friend had never once hit her. She showed her family the footage and they laughed and cried as they watched her entire body lurch onstage, giving the impression that she was shocked externally instead of internally.

During the interview, Hannah noted that she was glad she was not “too aware of what was going on and could continue dancing instead of falling over” when she was shocked because it helped her finish the performance and made the experience much easier to deal with. She also found out later that the clear footage of her being shocked was able to help someone else realize that they too were being shocked. The footage helped the person understand what their body was going through and made them more comfortable dealing with the situation and their condition as a whole. Upon hearing this, Hannah was extremely grateful to not only her defibrillator, but HCM as well for helping her help someone else with a similar experience.

Hannah mentioned that in regards to her diagnosis, HCM is something she is still coming to terms with, as the situation is constantly changing. There are a lot of terms as to what she can and cannot do with her heart condition, so she has learned to take life one day at a time. She also put an emphasis on being in tune with your own body and learning your individual limitations. She suggests listening to your doctors, taking all your medications on time, and at the end of the day, taking good care of your mental health. One of the greatest challenges she had faced was being viewed as HCM and having it take over her personality, but through Heartcharged and everything else she loves, Hannah has proven that your true self does not have to revolve around one singular condition.

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About the Author:

Arani Hiritharan is the Journal Coordinator. She is an incoming Grade 11 IB student from Ontario, Canada. In her spare time, she always trying out a variety of new activities and hobbies, alongside serving her community and being involved in the studytube community. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in neuroscience or psychology.