RICHMOND, Va. — Darlene Anita Scott, an assistant professor of English at Virginia State University, says she is always trying to learn and improve.
One of her passions is sketching, which she has enjoyed since she was young, taking up the craft mimicking what she saw her mother doing. Another is running, which she took stumbling upon as an adult with the encouragement of a friend.
She first hit the pavement in 2011, racking up six marathons, an ultra marathon and dozens of medals.
"Physically, it changed my body," Scott said, "but mostly I saw my strength. And in seeing that strength, emotionally and psychologically I gained this confidence that I didn't know I lacked."
But in 2016, Scott's life came to a turning point.
"I went out for a run," she said. "I was like, you're just out of condition, but this is different."
She felt fatigued; she struggled to keep pace on her runs. She felt "off."
After a month of medical tests, she was given the diagnosis of heart failure at the age of 41, significantly younger than the average age of 72 for women having their first coronary event, according to the American Heart Association.
"There was definitely fear, because when I heard the words heart failure, I always heard them associated with death," Scott said. "I was like, 'Wow, I'm too young to be dying, and aren't I?'"
Doctors advised her to stop running and immediately get on medication.
The gravity of what Darlene heard slowly sank in but her thoughts immediately went to her family.
"I didn't want to tell my parents," she said. "How am I going to say those words to them? Because I don't want them to worry about me and and I think out of everything, that was the hardest part of the diagnosis."
Scott followed the doctor's orders but she still had so many questions about how and why this was happening to her.
She was determined to get answers.
Scott said, "It was frustrating because I was like, we don't have time for me to beg you to listen to me. I just don't have that kind of time, you know, I'm on borrowed time ."
After traveling to see multiple cardiologists, Dr. Keyur Shah at VCU Pauley Heart Center heard took the extra steps.
CBS 6 News Anchor GeNienne Samuels said to Dr. Shah, "She went from doctor to doctor to try to figure out what caused this and nobody would to take the extra step to try to figure that out, but when she met you, you did."
“Heart disease and heart failure go beyond just high blood pressure and heart attacks. There's many other rocks to look under to find what may be going on." said Dr. Shah.
"But you didn't have to look under those rocks. So why did you decide to look under those rocks for her?" asked Samuels.
“In Darlene's case, anytime you see a young person with a weakened heart, it does prompt you to ask more questions about why this happened.”
Each question was a step forward, that led to the answer Darlene had been searching for.
Dr. Shah diagnosed her with sarcoidosis, a systemic disease that had affected her heart. The cause of this rare chronic inflammatory disease is still a mystery.
“Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease, meaning it can affect multiple organs throughout the body,” said Dr. Shah. By the time he met Scott, the disease had weakened her heart and caused arrhythmias.
Scott's journey included various medications, a failed ablation, and ultimately, the implantation of a cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in June.
Just a month later, she found her footing again. She was cleared to step back into her running shoes.
"On July 6, that morning, I woke up as early as I could, I still had the sling, and I went running like one arm, and I was like, I'm ready to get back out there," she said.
In addition to returning to running, Scott found strength in her art, which she had taken up again in the time she once devoted to running. She found the courage and strength to display her art in multiple art shows, resulting in one of her pieces being requested to grace the cover of a book.
Scott also finally published her book, "Marrow", a collection of contemporary poetry and prose that honors the more than 900 children, teenagers and adults who lost their lives in Jonestown on Nov. 18, 1978.
She also found strength in raising her voice by raising awareness about the disease that is the number one killer of women in the United States. She reminds women that heart failure wears no uniform and doesn't discriminate.
Her dedication to raising awareness about heart disease earned her recognition at this year’s American Heart Association Go Red for Women Luncheon.
"I've been very public-facing with this only because I think people should know. Why not you? So if it is you, then what do you do with it?" said Scott. "And I hope that I'm a good example of what you can do with it."
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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