Jude Mabone talks about her journey, the importance of black women taking their heart health seriously, and her plans to make school sports safer for children.

When Jude Mabone, the 2023 Miss District of Columbia, was 16 years old, she suddenly suffered a heart attack during track and field practice at her high school in Southern California, but was told it was a fluke. She went through it five more times in two years.

Doctor after doctor failed to diagnose and properly treat Mabone until he finally found one who could prescribe a successful treatment plan. In the process, she learned that her condition could have been caused by hormonal fluctuations or environmental factors, causing her heart attack. However, to date, nothing conclusive has been found.

Once an active track runner, Mabone had to adapt to his heart capacity and regain his ability to run at a competitive level. All this happened at a very impressionable age, so she endured it almost without telling anyone around her.

“I was really embarrassed,” Mabone, now 28, told theGrio. “I thought this happened as a result of poor decision-making, and I didn’t want people to think I had done something wrong. So I went through the treatment phase, the first six During my heart attack, I spent two years of high school not telling anyone.”

Mabone graduated from high school, moved to Washington, D.C., and graduated from college, but kept all these ordeals largely a secret. She then competed to become Miss District of Columbia.

As part of her quest for the title, she needed to support a cause. Considering she has experienced multiple heart attacks and the Miss America organization recently partnered with the American Heart Association, she felt she had no choice but to choose her heart health.

“I thought, ‘You know what? There is a strange story like this. I’ve had a crazy unicorn life where some really traumatic things happened. But what if we use it for purposes other than shame? What would happen if we turned that shame into change? ” she recalled.

Mabone won the title of Miss District of Columbia in June 2023 and is currently in the final stages of her reign. Although she didn’t win the coveted Miss America title (Miss Colorado Air Force Officer Madison Marsh won the title in January), Mabone remains very busy and centered. is living a life of

What was once a source of shame for twenty-somethings has become a proud mission. Speaking to The Grio during February’s American Heart Month, Mabone talked about his life after six heart attacks and how he uses his title to make schools and schools more environmentally safe for children. He talked about how he promotes school sports and raises awareness of the heart disease epidemic. , especially for Black and Latina women.

“Many people don’t even know that heart disease is our number one killer,” she says. “largely woman They don’t know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women. ”

Black and Latinx women are “more likely to die than white women” from heart disease, she noted. As a Black heart disease survivor, Maboneh urged: “We need to get serious about cardiovascular health as soon as possible. I think we tend to think of it as a disease of the elderly in this country.”

She and many others are living proof that heart disease can strike the least likely candidates at the most unexpected times. Mabone mentioned LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, and NFL player Damar Hamlin. Both recently survived traumatic heart attacks while participating in the sport they love. She also believes that life-saving measures were available to both, but may not have been available to other young student-athletes across the country.

“What saved their lives wasn’t just someone doing chest compressions or someone getting an AED (automated external defibrillator used to save someone in cardiac arrest). ” she explained. “What saved their lives was that there was a plan where someone knew it was their job to start chest compressions. Someone else knew it was their job to go get the AED. They knew it was their job. “I knew someone else had to call 911. That responsibility and that plan saved their lives.”

Before relinquishing the title in June, Mabone’s mission is to ensure these measures become the standard of care for all public schools in the district. She also wants it to become a national standard.

“I want every student-athlete in the District of Columbia to have the right to play and the right to live wherever they are: on the court, course, track or field,” she said. she said.

What you need to know about Mabone is that she is a self-proclaimed goal-oriented and results-oriented person. Before her first heart attack, she recalls that she was making plans for her own life. Looking for a way to further motivate herself during her last year of high school, she created her bucket list. That included competing in the Miss America pageant. (She had just seen the movie “Miss Congeniality,” starring Sandra Bullock, and she thought, “Maybe I can do it, too.”)

Mabone is also someone who doesn’t give up easily. She didn’t give up when her heart attack was dismissed as a fluke at age 16, and she didn’t give up in the seven tries it took to finally win Miss DC.

“It was truly the most transformative experience of my life,” she said.

When it comes to her next goals, Mabone plans to pursue a master’s degree in business, suggesting the sky is literally the limit.

“I’ve always told myself that I don’t want to [my disease] Become restrictive. So I always say, “I don’t just live with heart disease. I live well with heart disease.” I want to live a more fulfilling and exciting life. “I’m choosing to send my life to the world,” she said, before adding, “Well, I have my limitations. I can’t skydive…other than that, I can do pretty much anything.”

Kay Wicker is a lifestyle writer for theGrio, covering health, wellness, travel, beauty, fashion, and the myriad ways Black people live and enjoy life. She has created content for magazines, newspapers, and digital brands.

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