Jude Maboné secretly survived six heart attacks and then became Miss District of Columbia

When, at age 16, Jude Maboné, Miss District of Columbia 2023, unexpectedly suffered a heart attack during track practice at a Southern California highschool, she was told it was an accident. Within two years, she survived five more.

Doctor after doctor didn’t diagnose and properly treat what was happening in Maboné’s heart, until she finally found one who prescribed an efficient treatment plan. In the method, she learned that her condition was likely attributable to hormonal fluctuations or environmental aspects, resulting in heart attacks. However, nothing conclusive has been established so far.

Once an energetic trail runner, Maboné had to regulate to her heart’s capabilities and regain her ability to run at a competitive level. All this happened at such an impressionable age that she endured it without telling anyone outside her immediate circle.

Maboné graduated from highschool, moved to Washington, D.C., and graduated from college, all while keeping her ordeal a secret for essentially the most part. She then competed for the title of Miss District of Columbia.

As part of her bid for the title, she had to simply accept a case. Given that she had survived multiple heart attacks and that the Miss America organization had recently formed a partnership with the American Heart Association, she felt compelled to decide on heart health.

“I thought, ‘You know what? I have this strange story; I have this crazy unicorn life where something really traumatic happened to me. But what if I use it for something other than shame? What if I turn this shame into change?” – he recalls.

Maboné won the Miss District of Columbia title in June 2023 and is currently in the ultimate stage of her reign. Although she didn’t win the coveted title of Miss America (which was awarded to Miss Colorado, Air Force Officer Madison Marsh in January), Maboné continues to guide a really busy, heart-centered life.

“Many people don’t even know that heart disease is our number one killer,” she said. “Most don’t know that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women.”

She noted that Black and Latina women are “are more likely to die than their white counterparts” for heart disease. As a survivor of black heart disease, Maboné urged: “We need to take our cardiovascular health as seriously as possible as early as possible. “I feel on this country we are likely to think of it as an older person’s disease.”

She and many others live proof that heart disease can strike essentially the most unexpected candidates at essentially the most unexpected times. Maboné mentioned LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, and NFL player Damar Hamlin, who recently experienced traumatic cardiac episodes while playing their favorite sports. He also believes the 2 had access to life-saving resources that other young student-athletes across the country may not have access to.

“What saved their lives wasn’t just that someone did chest compressions and someone received an AED (automated external defibrillator, which helps people who are in cardiac arrest),” she explained. “What saved their lives was that there was a plan in place where someone knew it was their job to start chest compressions. Someone else knew it was his job to get the AED; someone else knew they had to call 911. That responsibility and that plan saved their lives.”

Before she relinquishes her title in June, Maboné’s mission is to make sure these solutions develop into the usual of care in all local public schools within the district. She would also wish to see it develop into a national standard.

“I want every student-athlete in the District of Columbia to have the right to play and the right to live when they are on the court, on the road, on the track, on the field, or wherever they are,” he says. he said.

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What is value knowing about Maboné is that she is a self-determined, goal-oriented one who brings results. She remembers that before her first heart attack, she had her life planned out. Looking for a method to stay motivated during her final years of highschool, she created a bucket list that included competing within the Miss America pageant. (She had just watched the movie Miss Congeniality starring Sandra Bullock and thought, “I could do that.”)

Maboné can be someone who doesn’t surrender easily. She didn’t surrender at age 16 when her heart attacks were regarded as accidental, and she didn’t surrender throughout the seven attempts that ultimately took her to win the Miss DC title.

“It truly was the most transformative experience of my life,” she said.

As for what’s next for Maboné, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in business and indicated that the sky is the limit – literally.

“I at all times told myself that I didn’t want (my illness) to be limiting. That’s why I at all times say, “I do not just live with heart disease; My heart disease makes me feel good. I decide to live a fuller and more exciting life,” she said, then added: “Yes, I actually have limitations. I am unable to skydive… Besides, I can do almost anything.