RAINELLE, West Virginia — Like many people in rural West Virginia, Sabrina Ford grew up on beans cooked with lard and cornbread loaded with sugar, often with a side of fried potatoes cooked in bacon grease. This was the food her mother grew up on, and when Ford became a mom, she prepared this meal and other fried foods for her children. But years of eating high-fat, fried and sugary foods have resulted in another family legacy: heart disease and other chronic illnesses.
Of her mother's 15 siblings, 14 have had open-heart surgery or stents placed to open clogged arteries. Ford's sister had a heart attack at age 51. Ford, 52, has Type 2 diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
She had a mini-stroke in January, discovered several of her arteries had blockages and is now on cholesterol-lowering medication. Her 28-year-old daughter, Sarah Ward, has prediabetes and battles to keep her blood pressure under control. Ford also has a 30-year-old daughter who struggles with irregular heart rhythms.
As the director of nursing at Rainelle Medical Center, the only clinic serving the town's roughly 1,170 residents, Ford is well-versed in the risk factors contributing to heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. She worries that if she doesn't change the unhealthy situation, her grandchildren will be next. "I don't want that for them," she said, nor does she want to miss seeing them grow up.
"I want to be around for a long time. I want to see them graduate high school.
