The Heart Hat Project

In loving memory of Grant Emerson MacKenzie #fromourGEMtoyours

February was American Heart Month. To raise awareness around all things heart disease — the leading cause of death in the United States — forty Lifecycle WomenCare babies born in February received hand-knit winter hats generously donated by a local family: the MacKenzies.

Grant MacKenzie was born on July 1, 1988 at Lankenau Hospital. While attending Radnor Schools he earned a black belt in karate, marched in the RHS band, volunteered for Radnor Township EMS and was technical director of the TV studio. He graduated high school in 2007 and matriculated at Shippensburg University. Grant started and was president of a service fraternity: Kappa Delta Phi. A true community volunteer in various capacities, he also served as an EMT in the Shippensburg area. Grant was a car enthusiast: both new and antique. He spent his summers at Lake Sunapee, NH. He loved the lake and working at the Mt Sunapee State Park.

On January 4th, 2015, Grant died suddenly of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – an undetected heart condition. He had no symptoms and was only 26 years old. We join the MacKenzie family in hoping that someday there will be a routine test to detect this condition and in applauding the dedicated doctors and scientists working to improve heart health in our country

“We are very pleased to work with Lifecycle WomanCare to raise awareness of heart disease during the month of February,” said Nancy MacKenzie. “They have supported our initiative since we started 3 years ago.”

The entire Lifecycle WomanCare team was thrilled to participate in American Heart Month and honored to distribute the MacKenzie family’s hats. If you would like to learn more about or get involved with The Heart Heart project, please email GEM1988.2015@yahoo.com