Keri Pratt and Dr. Tyrone David, two weeks after her open heart surgery. (Image Credit: Keri Pratt/Supplied)

By Ian Gustafson

Routine checkup saved her life

Red Deer County’s Keri Pratt shares story ahead of Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day

Feb 18, 2026 | 2:01 PM

Red Deer County’s Keri Pratt is reminding everyone of the importance of getting your heart checked regularly ahead of Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day this Sunday.

The campaign is recognized internationally every Feb. 22, led in Canada by Heart Valve Voice Canada to raise awareness for the disease.

“Take care of your heart. That’s the one thing that keeps you going, so if your heart’s not healthy, you’re not healthy. A healthy heart equals a healthy person,” Pratt said in an interview with rdnewsNOW.

Pratt explained she was unknowingly born with a heart murmur and didn’t find out until a routine physical exam with her doctor in her early 30s.

The doctor was listening to Pratt’s heart through a stethoscope when he said he had never heard anything like it before. He recommended she see a cardiologist in Calgary, who determined she had heart valve disease.

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“I learned that I had a bicuspid aortic valve, which means an aortic valve is supposed to have three splits in it and mine only had two,” she said.

Months before she turned 39, doctors determined that her valve had begun to deteriorate despite not having any symptoms. As a result, she was given the option to have the Ross procedure done.

It is a life-saving procedure that replaces the damaged aortic valve with your own pulmonary valve. Doctors then put a donated pulmonary valve in its place.

“I never had any shortness of breath or any of the things people say you should have if your valve is deteriorating. If I hadn’t gone for that routine physical exam and had the doctor recognize that it would’ve been unbeknownst to me. I probably would have had one of those situations where you have complete heart failure.”

Now in her late 40s, Pratt serves as an advocate for heart health and has shared her health journey through her YouTube channel.

Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, she said, is so important because many people don’t have their hearts regularly checked by a doctor.

She said it’s not preventative if you don’t know what’s happening inside your heart.

“Go have your heart checked regularly and go have your routine exam with your doctor, no matter how silly you think it is,” she said.

Pratt notes this Sunday at West Edmonton Mall between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Canada’s largest stethoscope screening event is happening. “It’s an inward injury that you won’t know about until you’ve had it listened to.”

According to Heart Valve Voice Canada, HVD is a common, serious, but treatable condition that affects more than one million Canadians. It can occur at any age but becomes more common with age (one in 10 seniors).

For more information on Heart Valve Disease Day, visit heartvalvevoice.ca.