Barbara Brown has always valued exercise and a healthy diet. After her heart attack in late January 2005 Brown said she realized just how important this life-long philosophy is.

"It pays to be active, keep constant interest in your health and to have a good attitude," she said.

Barbara Brown After having three stents inserted, the most recent in October 2008, seventy-three-year-old Brown began a cardiac rehabilitation program and has been with the Wellness Center at Duke Raleigh Hospital since March of 2005. She has continued her fitness regimen through the Wellness Center and has even gotten her husband involved in the program.

In her spare time Brown enjoys studying body, mind and spirit philosophies as well as aerobics and working out. She has recently become a Reiki practitioner. She has five children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and lives in Raleigh.