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Is My Heart Up For It? Literally!Is My Heart Up For It? Literally!

Finding solutions in the midst of a pandemic.

Craig R. Hersch

May 21, 2020

4 Min Read
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Last September, during swim practice with my triathlon team, I suddenly felt my chest tighten and experienced difficulty breathing. My wife took me to the ER, where a cardiologist performed a heart catheterization, resulting in the discovery that I had advanced heart disease. This diagnosis despite my finishing three Ironman triathlons, nine half-Ironman triathlons and 40 other races of Sprint and Olympic distances within the past 10 years! 

A few days later, at age 55, I underwent open heart surgery—a triple bypass. It would take me several weeks to recover and return to the office. 

“You need to cut the stress out of your life,” Dr. Kenneth Towe, a fellow athlete, friend and my cardiologist told me. “Your condition wasn’t caused by poor ...

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About the Author

Craig R. Hersch

https://estateprograms.com/

Craig R. Hersch is the creator of The Freedom Practice™, The Family Estate & Legacy Program™ estate planning practice system and The Estate Settlement Program™ probate and trust administration practice system. He developed these practice systems in response to the quickly changing and challenging legal marketplace. He authored four books, Common Cents Estate Planning, Legal Matters When a Loved One Dies, The Florida Residency & Estate Planning Guide and Selecting Your Successor Trustee. These books are all used in his practice systems.

Craig is a Florida Bar Board Certified Wills, Trusts & Estates Attorney, practicing since 1989. He is also licensed as a Florida CPA, and is a founding shareholder and director of a private state-chartered trust company. His varied background in law, accounting, tax and finance along with his participation in Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach program since 2005 provides him unique insights and capabilities necessary to multiply his practice.

To that end, Trusts & Estates magazine tapped Craig a “Practice Development Xpert” where he writes a column under its wealthmanagement.com website. He hosts three podcast series geared to estate planning professionals, clients and trust administrators. Craig writes a weekly estate-planning column for a local newspaper, and presents as a featured lecturer at continuing education programs sponsored by The Florida Bar, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Business Institute.

Craig is married to wife Patti and they have raised three daughters. In his spare time Craig enjoys adventure travel, training for and competing in triathlons, including Ironman distance races, boating the southwest Florida waterways and spending quality time with his family.