Heart disease is the number one cause of death among women.

Nearly 400 women – all dressed in red – will gather in downtown Albany on Friday for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Luncheon.

The luncheon is at the Albany Capital Center. It’s a chance for women to get together in the name of heart health.

There are blood pressure screenings, CPR training and a silent auction. New this year are a panel women health experts and a live painter – creating a work of art of the event as it is happening.

Survivors will share their stories and spread the word, hoping to inspire other women to listen to their bodies.

This year’s feature survivor speaker is Lindsay Callahan. She’s a mom of two from Stillwater.

Callahan recently shared her story with NewsChannel 13’s Tiffany Payton, about how she started feeling sick at just 36 years old.

She thought it was the flu. It turns out she developed a heart murmur and then a ruptured valve in her heart.

“It was about a 15 to 20 minute test. When I woke up from the test, the doctor came in and told me that I was going to need open heart surgery,” said Callahan. “I didn’t believe it, I could not believe I was a 36-year-old mom of two, very active and this was happening to me. It just didn’t make sense.”

Thankfully Callahan’s surgery was successful, and she now makes it her mission to share her story hoping to save someone else’s life.

You can hear her story at the luncheon on Friday. More than 350 tickets have been sold and tickets are still available, but only by phone at 518-626-8768

NewsChannel 13 is a proud sponsor and NewsChannel 13’s Subrina Dhammi is the emcee.