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In 2010 Joannie Rochette impressed the world by skating to a bronze medal days after her mother's sudden fatal heart attack.

Now she is devoting her efforts to making people, especially women, aware of heart disease.

Joannie knew that her mother Therese had high blood pressure, but she always assumed that medication to control it was enough.

"Looking back on her lifestyle, she was a heavy smoker. She was not very active," said Rochette. "Of course those are all things that would lead to a heart attack, but you never think of heart disease when you think about women. I always thought it was an old-man's disease."

The reality is that heart disease is the number one killer of women in Canada.

For the full interview, click the video player to the right.