Recent

The credentials above are quite old. The links below are somewhat recent.

Tiffany Vara always knew that her daughter Abbie's survival was a gift. It took nearly 19 years for Tiffany to realize that the CPR she performed is what made Abbie's dazzling second life possible. Her toddler never walked or spoke after her heart stopped. That doesn't mean CPR was 'unsuccessful.''
During a half marathon, cardiologist Steve Lome stopped to give CPR to a fellow runner. Once that guy was headed to the hospital, Lome decided to keep running. Steps after crossing the finish line, he saw another runner collapse. Lome gave him CPR, too. That's right - one race, two CPR saves, all by a cardiologist. The best part? The story behind how Lome even got to the starting line. Next feat for doc who gave CPR to 2 runners in 1 race? Preventing more hearts from stopping.
A Grand Slam tennis champion spent 9 years touting CPR & AEDs, then those things saved his life. And that's only a small part of Murphy Jensen's amazing tale. Murphy Jensen is on the short list of most interesting people I know. In addition to a spectacular personality, his life story is spectacular; high-highs and low-lows. Former Grand Slam tennis champion wants his survival story to help everyone, everywhere
My favorite stories to tell for the American Heart Association involve CPR saves: the drama is built-in, with a clearly defined hero. Still, some stories offer far more compelling layers. Such as the tale of an extremely fit heart researcher whose heart stopped while at dinner with friends; luckily, someone with him knew CPR - a former pro athlete known as "The Legend."
In the 2007, while covering a 59-year-old college football player at Sul Ross State, I learned about another great story: the fact that the first two women's college volleyball champions were from Sul Ross. In 2021, I finally had the opportunity to write their terrific tale for Texas Highways magazine.
A Q-and-A with Lee Trevino for Texas Highways magazine: PGA Champion Lee “Super Mex” Trevino Explains the Secret Behind Texas’ Great Golfers
The merit of all things lies in their difficulty. Including running a virtual marathon by yourself during a pandemic. The story of my second marathon.
Lots of marriages these days begin with couples meeting on the Internet. Not like this, though. She asked Google for a story about a Coast Guard stroke survivor. She found her soulmate.
Michael Johnson was once the world's fastest man ever to run 200 meters, covering the distance in 19.32 seconds. After a stroke, it took him about 10 minutes. A stroke slowed Olympic legend Michael Johnson. Responding F.A.S.T. sped his recovery.
Months after being hailed as "a fitness badass" and "hotter than ever" at age 71, Susan Lucci felt a strange sensation radiating around her ribcage. Susan Lucci thriving since getting 2 stents in heart; recognizing warning signs avoided heart attack
American Heart Association President John Warner went into cardiac arrest during a heart attack, all while attending the biggest heart meeting of his tenure. His heart stopped for several minutes until an impromptu team of rescuers brought him back to life. Scrambling to restart a stopped heart, when the patient is the president of the American Heart Association
After running 977 miles in my first full year as a runner, I set a goal of topping 1,000 the next year - and did so. Here's what I learned along the way.
Driving back to Dallas after dealing with fallout from Hurricane Harvey, my mind raced. Things I saw, heard and did began snapping together like puzzle pieces. This is the image they formed: Everyone from Houston has a flood story. Here's mine.*
Tragedy. Joy. Sports. Family. Mystery. Faith. The story of Rod Carew getting his new heart and kidney from a 29-year-old NFL player has it all and more. It's perhaps the best story I've ever written; further validation came from it being chosen as the "Favorite Read" by the Sunday Long Read newsletter.
- Meet Konrad Reuland, the late NFL player whose heart and kidney are keeping baseball great Rod Carew alive
Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew is lucky to be alive. A heart attack, cardiac arrest and heart failure left him with a machine keeping him alive. His ordeal prompted him to connect with the American Heart Association to boost awareness and prevention of heart disease, and I've written a lot about his journey. Here's the list, from most recent to oldest:
SI Kids' Kid Reporter Jake Aron just finished five days of covering the Final Four. He filed blog posts, video reports, and social media updates throughout the last three games of the men's basketball season. And along for the ride was his dad, former Associated Press Texas Sports Editor Jaime Aron. Jaime looks back on the experience of watching his son break into the business. - April 9, 2014, SIKids.com
When Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanted "the best player development coach in the NBA," he turned to Mike Procopio, a profane, 5 foot 7, self-described "blending of Forrest Gump and Louie de Palma from Taxi." - Winter 2014 edition of Suffolk Magazine