The first indication that Richard Mosley might have a heart problem was in 2005. He was working as a sale representative at Bill Jackson Chevrolet and felt a little twinge that alerted him that something was not just right.

“My heart was not beating right,” Mosley said. “I could feel it – that it was out of rhythm. So, I went out to the hospital (TRMC) emergency room and they did an EKG and didn’t like what they saw.”

Mosley’s primary physician was contacted and he was taken by ambulance to Jackson Hospital in Montgomery.

“They ran all kinds of tests for three days and said I had a light heart attack,” Mosley said. “But I didn’t have any blockages so I was put on all kinds of medications.”

Then in May 2007, an irregular heartbeat again got his attention. He was sent to UAB where his heart was shocked back into rhythm.

“The doctor did a heart cauterization,” Mosley said. “They went behind my heart and shocked it back into rhythm.

“I kept having heart spasms so the doctors had me put on a nitroglycerin tablet to hold under my tongue. That calmed my heart down.”

Mosley had no further heart problems until 2010 when he had another episode much like the one five years earlier.

“I was at Bill Jackson’s and they put me in a car and took me straight to Jackson Hospital,” Mosley said. “I’d had another light heart attack but again, no blockage. I continued to be treated with medication, and I put worry to the side.”

Mosley is a “pleasant person” and one who doesn’t worry a lot. “If you have heart problems you don’t need to let yourself get stressed out,” he said. “Worry causes stress so you need to think positive. Worry never helps anything anyway. So, just leave worry alone.”

Mosley said he enjoys eating and, like most people, he really enjoys some foods that are not heart healthy but, for his heart’s sake, he doesn’t “overdo it.”

“I eat very few fried foods and I don’t drink sodas,” Mosley said. “And, I leave buffets alone. I don’t even walk by them. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. When I eat, I don’t overdo. I don’t overdo a lot of things. I stay up and active. It’s important for a healthy heart to get up and get moving.”

Mosley said a strong supporter of the Pike County Heart Walk. He knows, first hand, the benefits of the dollars that are raised for the American Heart Association.

“Through research and education, we are able to fight heart disease but it still continues to be the number one killer of Americans,” he said. “We have to continue the fight.”

The 2016 Pike County Heart Walk will be from 5 until 8 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Troy Recreation Center. Everyone is encouraged to make plans to attend.