North Carolina group gives support to local cardiac patients

Dave Martin walked into a patient room at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, North Carolina, on Wednesday with a packet of information about the local Mended Hearts chapter. In the room, Ronald Sutton sat in bed, surrounded by his family. The 57-year-old La Grange man was recovering in the cardiac surgical intermediate unit at the hospital. As Martin talked to Sutton and his family, he told them about his own bypass surgeries and the lessons he learned from his experience. He asked Sutton about his appetite and exercise before telling him to stay positive and to feel better. Martin spends most of his Wednesdays at PCMH, visiting heart patients and spreading information about Mended Hearts - an affiliate of the American Heart Association that offers encouragement to patients and their caregivers. The Mended Hearts chapter, which originally formed during the 1980s and was re-activated in 1994, has about 40 local members and 10 accredited volunteers who visit the hospital. The Recorder