A makeover taken to heart

A fashion makeover for a good cause was all a matter of the heart for Lesle Harwood, BE ’91, a national representative for the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red for Women campaign.

The campaign links the color red and the red dress symbol to its message of wiping out heart disease—the number one killer of American women and men.

Harwood agreed to a make-over on TLC’s reality show, What Not to Wear, which led to a new red dress and glamorous new look for her personal appearances on behalf of the Go Red campaign. Along the way, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, the professional stylists on the show, seemed to enjoy tossing out all of Harwood’s well-worn UD sweatshirts, left over from her days on the campus in Newark.

Harwood’s heart has complicated her life from the moment she was born. With three heart chambers rather than the normal four and reversed aorta and pulmonary arteries, Harwood’s heart sent non-oxygenated blood through her body while oxygen-rich blood was carried back to her lungs.
“There were a couple of other things, too, but it just gets too wordy,” she explains with her characteristic optimism.

Born in Atlanta in 1969, Harwood credits medical technology for helping her survive and her family’s no-nonsense approach to life for helping her thrive.
Although she had her first heart surgery at the age of 1, Harwood says her childhood was fairly normal.

“My parents and extended family treated me like a normal child. I had surgeries and saw my cardiologist on a regular basis, but other than that, my mom (who raised me from 3 years of age) pretty much let me decide what I could or couldn’t do as far as physical activities. At times, this went against doctors’ advice to keep me from exerting myself, but I’m glad she had the courage to do it,” she says.

With her “can-do” attitude, Harwood looked for colleges just like any other high school student and decided on UD. “The business school’s reputation was the main attraction for me,” she says. “I also liked the idea of Winter Session; it was a great opportunity to travel and earn more credits. [She minored in English.] And it doesn’t hurt that the campus is gorgeous.”

Today, her positive attitude endures. “I grew up with these problems, so [this] is normal to me—I’ve never known any other way. Nobody really treats me any differently, and I don’t think about it on a regular basis. The AHA and the What Not to Wear episode have focused on my heart disease and I’m proud to tell my story to help other people, but it’s not the way I live my everyday life,” she explains, adding that much of the medication she takes is the same as her grandmother’s.

“I am limited in my endurance of physical exertion. I can do pretty much any physical activity, but I can’t continue nearly as long as people with a normal cardiovascular system.”

Harwood and Paul Rotter, her husband of eight years, were advised not to conceive children due to her heart condition, so they chose adoption. Their daughter, Madelyn, recently turned 5 and their son, Dean, is about 18 months old. Currently, Harwood enjoys being a stay-at-home mom while she pursues a culinary degree at Reading (Pa.) Area Community College.

“Filming What Not to Wear and then seeing myself and my family and friends on TV was definitely a surreal experience,” she says. “I often have this feeling that it didn’t really happen, and then I look in my closet and see all the great new clothes! The filming schedule in New York was rigorous and I was very far out of my element, but it was all worth it in the end. I learned a lot from Stacy and Clinton and was able to represent the Go Red for Women campaign in the process.”

Harwood became involved in Go Red through her volunteer work at the Philadelphia Adult Congenital Heart Center, where she is a patient. She had been doing some volunteer work at the center and was asked if she would like to meet with someone from the American Heart Association back in November.

“One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I was a spokesperson for Go Red for Women and about to be on an episode of What Not to Wear. Macy’s department store is a sponsor of Go Red and of the show, and the AHA nominated me to be on it. The past six months have been a wild ride, but it has been a fantastic opportunity and I’ve been proud to personally take the Go Red message to the national platform the show provided.”

Harwood also told her story of living with a heart condition and her experience on the show as a guest speaker at the Philadelphia Go Red for Women Luncheon in June. The event included a fashion show—featuring red dresses, of course.
For more about Go Red for Women, visit [goredforwomen.org], call 800-AHA-USA1.

—Beth Thomas