In June of 2009, Danielle Aversa awoke in the middle of the night to feel her heart racing. At one point or another, most people have some experience of their sleep being disrupted by impromptu and unwanted thoughts of day-to-day worries. But on this particular evening, Danielle felt the thickening feeling in her chest and throat warranted an online search of her symptoms.

"Seek medical attention immediately," she read on her screen.

With her husband away in Dallas for work and daughters, Tara and Isabella home that evening, she debated whether an emergency room visit was truly necessary.

"Do I go? Do I not go? I thought if they say there's nothing wrong, then you can go home, but at least you're finding out," said Danielle.

At the emergency room, it was determined Danielle was experiencing Atrial Fibrillation or AFib, which is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. According to the American Heart Association, untreated atrial fibrillation doubles the risk of heart-related deaths and is associated with a 5-fold increased risk for stroke. About 15-20 percent of people who have strokes have this heart arrhythmia.

"In the end, I listened to my body, but in that moment, I couldn't help questioning whether I was overreacting or not," said Danielle. "Had I turned over and gone back to sleep, who knows what could have happened."

While she was prescribed medication to treat her AFib, she was later connected by her cardiologist, Dr. Falterman of Saint Thomas Rutherford to colleague Dr. Robertson. The two felt Danielle would be an ideal candidate for cardiac ablation, which is a procedure that works by scarring or destroying tissue in your heart that triggers an abnormal heart rhythm.

"They told me the procedure required shutting down my heart," said Danielle. "The idea of that was extremely scary to me. I was also nervous about anesthesia after a terrible experience with it years earlier."

The threat of heart disease and stroke were all too familiar to Danielle. Her brother, Mark had a heart attack at 36 and later passed away at 43. Her mother experienced a stroke at 65, and her father passed away from heart complications at 73. Additionally, four of her uncles died before the age of 50 from conditions related to heart disease and her one surviving uncle was diagnosed with AFib.

"I want to take care of myself because I want to be here to take care of my husband, my kids and all of my family."

After much discussion with her husband, Sal and her doctors at Saint Thomas Rutherford, Danielle elected to undergo the procedure.

"After everything was done, I sent them all thank you cards," said Danielle. "I was that grateful. Their entire team was completely supportive. They made sure I understood everything that was going to happen and that I was confident about all of it."

Today, Danielle lives a full, happy life as owner of Tara Bella Salon in Murfreesboro, TN. She recently helped her daughter, Tara to move to San Francisco, CA, and she's happy to be working with her clients who supported her throughout her experience.

"I hope my story motivates others to be mindful of their heart health and that our community will rally together to support the lifesaving awareness and research the American Heart Association provides through the Rutherford Heart Walk," said Danielle.

Danielle encourages everyone to attend the Rutherford Heart Walk this Saturday, September 17 at Saint Thomas Rutherford. Funds raised go to American Heart Association-funded research, education and community health programs to fight the No. 1 and No. 5 health threats in America, heart disease and stroke.

"Everybody has a heart. If you want to keep it beating, get moving," said Danielle.

For more on the Rutherford Heart Walk, visit: RutherfordHeartWalk.org.

The Rutherford Heart Walk is nationally sponsored by Subway Restaurants and locally presented by Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.