Keisha Hawes was age 31 when she had a heart attack. She was a wife and mother, who was holding down several part-time jobs in the Charleston area to help to make ends meet. She has taken the experience of her heart attack as a way to “serve another purpose.” She said, “when I was stuck on the fact of suffering a heart attack, I actually suffered. I continued my suffering. When I took a moment and I stopped and I said, ‘no, let's look at this from the lens of you survived a heart attack. So now, what is the purpose in your survival? How can you repurpose this to now be a benefit to people?’ " Hawes has been tireless in her work to benefit people. She was the first American Heart Association national spokesperson from the state of South Carolina, and she has lobbied for better health care overage, research and treatment of women’s issues. She is a PreK teacher, actor, voice-over artist and a youth pastor, as well as an active community volunteer.
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