Making Moves for Heart Health
Sep 23, 2026 09:36AM ● By Keith Burbank
Manuel Balmes, an American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Walk Sacramento participant, poses near the arch representing the starting line for the walk Sept. 19. Photo by Karen Balmes
Making Moves for Heart Health [3 Images]
Click Any Image To Expand
SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Sacramento resident Manuel Balmes, 76, woke up at his daughter’s home Feb. 7 with chest pain that failed to go away.
He was having a heart attack. Nine months later, following a two-night stay at Mercy General Hospital, three stents and rehabilitation, he is back to normal though he’s exercising and watching his diet.
Along with more than 4,000 others Sept. 19, Balmes walked in Heart and Stroke Walk Sacramento at William Land Regional Park at Freeport Boulevard and Sutterville Road.
“I enjoyed it,” said Balmes, who walked the one-mile course.
One- and 5-mile walks started at about 9 a.m. on a paved road, which wound its way under shade trees through the park and its golf course.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States, according to the American Heart Association.
And death occurs in about 90 percent of the roughly 350,000 each year who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital, according to the association.
Sacramento native Dan Staszak was nearly one of them. Staszak was clinically dead for 20 minutes following a massive heart attack during a 2024 family outing.
Bystander CPR and six shocks from an automated external defibrillator revived him.
CPR can double or triple the chance a person survives an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association. CPR can be performed by anyone and with the hands only.
It requires two steps: call 911 and push hard and fast in the center of the chest until paramedics arrive.
Staszak and his family are now regular Heart Walk supporters, according to the AHA.
Strokes can be deadly, too.
But Sacramento resident Jose Garcia took immediate action when he suffered one at 28 years old. He noticed the warning signs and called 911 right away.
Garcia is now a father of three, a regular Heart Walk participant and stroke recovery coach.
“Small steps lead to extraordinary outcomes,” said Steven Foster, president of Mercy General Hospital and chair of the 2026 Heart Walk.
