Sunrise Commissioner Jacqueline Guzman was only 30-years-old when she had two heart attacks.
March 9, 2012 started as any other day for 30-year-old Jacqueline Guzman. She woke up her four-year-old son, Jose, and two-year-old daughter, Jazmine, to prepare them for school.
Then she went to take a shower. As she lathered shampoo in her hair, a sudden weakness overtook her arms, causing them to drop to her sides. A sharp pain crept into her jaw and neck, and her jaw felt tense. After stepping out of the shower, she felt her chest tighten like a rubber ball was being squeezed.
Confused, she did what most busy mothers of young children do, she pushed past the pain.
“I had no idea what I was feeling at the time, but I knew I still had mommy duties,” she said. “I got my kids in the car and drove them to preschool during my heart attack that I didn’t know I was having.”
That was Guzman’s second heart attack. Another had taken place a week before, but she didn’t understand what had happened and continued with her life. These life-threatening medical scares helped encourage her to run for the Sunrise commission and win in 2020. They also set her on a path that would ultimately inspire her journey into heart health advocacy for women and to start a fashion show that has become a West Broward tradition.
Dr. Kirandeep Desai is a family medicine resident physician at the Larkin Community Hospital on Palm Springs Campus and an advanced instructor for the American Heart Association.
According to Dr.Desai, heart disease is rarely so severe in women of Guzman’s age. It remains the leading cause of death in women, yet is often unrecognized and untreated. Women get the typical symptoms of chest pain but also experience atypical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating, shortness of breath, and pain in other areas such as the abdomen. Women are also more likely to experience vague symptoms days before including fatigue, anxiety, and even sleep disturbance.
“This is where the term “silent killer” is often used,” Dr.Desai said. “The symptoms can often be dismissed which unfortunately can lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment.”
Originally from New York, Guzman is from a big Puerto Rican family and is the second youngest of four girls. Jeanette Neerpat is the oldest and remembers their childhood full of love and many laughs, Guzman being the cause of most of those moments.
“She was active, and Jacqueline was always the joker of the family, she loved clowns,” Neerpat said. “There’s a lifetime’s worth of memories.”
Guzman, now a mother of three, was raised in Plantation and Sunrise and graduated from Las Vegas College in Nevada with her associate’s degree in Healthcare.
After her kids were born, she became a T-ball coach and loved volunteering with organizations such as Hands on Broward and Habitat for Humanity.
Corey Shearer is a community organizer and has known Guzman for a little over eight years through her political career and the community work she’s done. Through these years he has come to know Guzman as a caring and fierce person that has dealt with residual issues that women face and met them head on as a champion for others.
“Jacqueline is that one degree of separation person where if you ask people in the room how they got there oftentimes she’s the connector,” he said.
On March 8, the day before her second heart attack, she had gone to the gym, done cardio in the morning, yoga in the afternoon, and later that evening attended a Zumba class. Doctors did confirm that her results showed that stress and putting too much pressure on her body were the causes of her heart attack.
“I was overwhelmed, my body may have been taking too much mentally and physically,” she said.
She did not fit the picture of a typical heart attack patient. She was young and had a very active life. At the time Guzman was a single mother with two toddlers working long hours for a nursing school. She never had problems with blood pressure, high cholesterol, or any other cardiac issues prior.
“I just didn’t think anything like that could happen to me,”Guzman said.
After the event a friend rushed her to the ER at Florida Medical Center, the initial test showed nothing abnormal leaving doctors puzzled. It wasn’t until the emergency room director asked the right questions that they suspected a heart attack and kept her overnight.
Around 5 a.m., a cardiac team informed her she needed an emergency cauterization because her enzyme levels were dangerously high. They discovered a 99% blockage in her left anterior descending artery.
At this point Guzman’s family had rushed to the hospital so they could figure out what was happening.
Neerpat was taken aback by the situation, as heart-related problems were uncommon in the family—colon cancer was typically the concern.
“It was scary, she had young kids as a single mom and we were trying to figure out and make sure the kids were taken care of.”
The doctors doubted she would survive the procedure, and urged her sister to say her goodbyes.
Guzman recalled the intense moment.
“At that point, I asked my sister to please take custody of my children because being a single mom, 30-years-old at the time, I didn’t think I needed to have those details in place,” she said. “It was a really emotional time for my kids and I.”
After doctors successfully removed the blockage, they were able to assess the damage done to her arteries and determined that a week prior she had a silent heart attack as well.
The recovery process was not easy for her. She still suffers from PTSD, and for a while, the thought of going back to the gym brought fear of what could happen. Over the years she has tried going back to the gym and enjoys cardio when she has the time.
The ER doctor who admitted Guzman, initially saving her life, Dr. Isaacson, introduced her to the CEO of Florida Medical Center, who also served as the chair of the American Heart Association at the time.
Amazed by her medical miracle, the CEO asked her to share her story with doctors and others involved in heart health awareness. She spent a few years sharing her story throughout Broward county, answering questions for medical professionals before connecting with the American Heart Association to do the fashion shows.
Guzman’s family is honored by the work she has done spreading awareness through her fashion shows over the years.
”Of course I was proud seeing my sister up on the stage and presenting, and it was the start of her political career too”, Neerpat said. “Age is just a number, it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, heart attacks can happen regardless, so knowing the signs and symptoms and advocating for that is what she’s done.”
The first fashion show was completely sponsored and held at the Hard Rock Hotel about 12 years ago. Guzman described it as a magical experience that raised awareness about heart disease, spotlighted local businesses and performers, and highlighted the American Heart Association.
Now Sawgrass Mills mall hosts and sponsors the Go Red fashion show with stores and popular brands donating items for the night.
This year marked the fourth annual show, where Guzman chose to highlight Heart Sistas, a local organization that focuses on promoting awareness for women of minority.
The heart models all wear red attire and feature a mix of people in the community who care about the cause, are directly affected by heart disease and stroke, or have a loved one who is. Many of the models are community leaders such as Sunrise Lieutenant Haley Winner and Tia Frost the 2011 winner of Miss. Florida Plus America.
Dahlia Daniel Percival, a heart attack survivor and one of this year’s models, is a real estate agent from the Virgin Islands. She is also a member of the 40 Double Dutch Club, a group that celebrates aging through prioritizing health and empowering women. Through this club, she became involved in the fashion show.
“My biggest thing since my surgery is to follow my heart and the feeling, take care of yourself, and get checked out,” Dahlia said. “It started from me being a caretaker, we ignore ourselves and take care of everyone else.”
Throughout the night attendees can donate or purchase raffle tickets to win one of the many items such as Amazon gift cards, or gift baskets from brands such as Nike. All contributions made from the night are given to the Heart Sistas organization.
There have been some success stories in the personal lives of people who have attended this event.
One attendee told Guzman that after attending they went to a cardiologist and were able to detect an early sign of heart disease which helped them to change their lifestyle. Others shared that they lost loved ones from heart disease and attended the fashion show to connect with them and feel close.
The Go Red show has bridged together a community of survivors, their loved ones, and organizations that look to help inform society on heart health. Guzman hopes the Go Red Fashion show will continue to grow, encouraging people to take their health more seriously while also highlighting the importance of connecting with fellow survivors.
“Everyone’s story is different and it gives each other the empowerment to get by because it affects people differently, sometimes you have PTSD like me,” Jacqueline says. “It’s about having that network of support and women empowerment.”
