Heart Camp For Kids With Disease

One Man's Answer To Own Illness' Lack Of Awareness

(CBS) 

Yasi says, "You get to do everything you're not allowed to do at home. It made me feel really good, 'cause I could just - I felt normal! Nobody treated me weird, or said: 'Don't run; don't run; something will happen!' "

Rivard points out, "They get to kayak; they get to swim. It's huge for them to be able to do that and to feel normal for the first time in their life."

Yasi adds, "You get to be a kid. You get to rock climb."

About her child, Jan Emamian notes, "She says, 'I climbed a rock wall.' I just was a little taken aback by the whole thing, thinking, 'This is a heart camp.' "

The camp helped connect kids and their parents about the reality of heart disease. Rivard wanted to spread the word much further.

He says, "Just out of the blue, I had this idea of: What if people went down and flew kites in honor of, or in memory of, people who suffered from heart disease?"

So last October, hundreds of kites filled the sky above Long Beach, Calif., each kite containing a message.

About Rivard, Jan Emamian says, "Instead of ever feeling sorry for the way he's had heart disease in his entire life, he's turned it around to make it positive, and try to make a positive change for these children, and to give them a voice, and give them hope."

Rivard wants kids to get tested, since many who have a congenital heart defect,don't even know it.

He says, "There are children dying every day of heart disease. And we can stop that. We can do something about it. And that's what I'm gonna do."

Making a difference, not just to help prevent deaths from heart disease, but also helping those who survive live their lives to the fullest.

USA Weekend also cited nine other volunteers selected out of hundreds of nominees who took part in Make A Difference Day last October. All of them get a check for $10,000. Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith served as one of the judges.

For more information visit the following Web sites: campdelcorazon.org; americanheart.org; and usaweekend.com. Mike Rivard's Web site: heartstringsamerica.org is under construction.