Gibraltar marks Cardiac Awareness Month with an emotional Wear Red Day tribute following loss of founding member

February is cardiac awareness month, an international event that aims to raise awareness of cardiac issues and will be marked in Gibraltar today by people wearing red.

This year the month, and in particular today’s Wear Red Day, will be poignant on the Rock after one of the Gibraltar Cardiac Association’s founders, Keith Bautista, passed away.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] morning we woke up to the news that one of our founder members, Keith Bautista, passed away,” said GCA Chairperson Suyenne Catania.

“He's been instrumental with everything we've done and where we've got to today, and he's been one of the people that has pushed most in the committee for something like the cath lab, which we now basically have going on.”

“So on Wear Red Day, we normally use a roving frame, and we urge people to support us by wearing red and calling us and we go around with the frame and then we put it on social media.”

“The response we get is always tremendous, and this year was exactly the same.”

“But as you will understand, the committee is really not in the right frame of mind to go round.”

“But nevertheless, we're urging people more than ever to wear red tomorrow in memory of Keith.”

“Because Keith was very keen in creating awareness and making sure that people lead a healthy life and that Gibraltar in the cardiology department went forward and developed new things.”

“So this is going to give us the extra push that we needed to make sure now that in memory of Keith, we get things done,” she added.

There are a number of events taking place this month in a bid to raise both awareness and funds for the charity.

There will be a bingo game in Laguna Club on February 29 and the annual walk will take place on February 24.

In addition, the public are invited to the AGM for the association on February 27.

The annual walk will be up to 5km, but Ms Catania stated “You can only do one mile, two miles, three miles, four miles.”

“I imagine you can cycle it, you can run it, anything. It's just to create awareness and make people realise as well that exercise is a very important factor in our daily lives for our heart.”

Ms Catania admits that she is not the best at taking in exercise, but to combat that she walks as much as possible.

She encourages people to leave the car at home and avoid the stress of having to find a car parking space and walk to the office or to school to drop off and collect children.

“If everybody just decided, come on let's walk, it will be better for the environment and better for each individual,” she said.

Aside from exercise and without taking into consideration any genetic heart issues there are other lifestyle habits a person can have that helps keep their heart healthy.

“Smoking is definitely a no no and there is a cessation clinic in the GHA which is very much for helping people if you want to give it up,” said Ms Catania.

“What we don't really agree with is people giving up smoking and then vaping. We are quite concerned about the amount of vaping that there is going on because I don't think there's been enough research as to what the long term effects of vaping are.”

Healthy eating is also something that the GCA always tell people. Ms Catania states that people know what's good for them and what's not. But Gibraltar could have a problem with respect to the diet of its residents.

“I always say by all means plan your week. Have a bad day. but at least you have six good days. But at least it helps you sort of train yourself into what healthy eating is all about,” she said.

“We like our food, and especially young people, some people are very conscious, but in general you always think it’s not going to happen to me.”

“I think we've got to be more conscious of what we eat. We eat a lot of fatty or fried stuff, although I must admit that I think that over the last 10 years in general, people are more conscious now of what they eat. And each day I hear of fewer people eating fried food.”

She also noted that locals are very keen on takeaways, which at times is the healthy option but sometimes is the easiest.

The said it is GCA not trying to target any age group in particular this year, and that heart issues can affect people of any age.

In addition, “the younger you are the less chance of survival you have because the heart is so strong that when it really hits you it hits you hard,” said Ms Catania.

“It's one of the organs that the older you are the better chance of survival you have because the muscle starts weakening with age, and therefore the strength of the heart attack is not going to be as great.”

This may be something that most people are not aware of.

With education in mind the GCA already visit schools to start an education programme, with teachers also being trained in CPR and how to use AED machines.

Finally, Ms Catania has one message for people this Cardiac Awareness month and that is: “Irrespective of the charity you support or the colour t-shirt you wear, we all have hearts.”

“The heart is something that is the first thing that tells us that there's a living thing inside. And it's the last thing that basically tells us that we're alive.”

“And it's one of these organs that if it's not working properly, it will eventually affect whatever other organ whatever other disease you have. Because even for a simple operation, if you have a heart condition, they can't operate.”

Looking forward the GCA have been told that the cath lab should be operational in Gibraltar by the end of the year.

“Then we're on to a good start because you will be able to be in A&E and most probably the problem will be able to be sorted out within two hours,” she added.

“So the chance of survival will be great,” she added.

For more information, visit https://www.gibraltarcardiac.com/