Saturday’s UAlbany men’s basketball game will be honoring children with congenital heart defects with the Warren & Denyse Mackey Foundation’s “Play Your Heart Out Game.”
And they have a special coach to lead them to victory. Twelve-year-old Emma Duncan, of Niskayuna, will be the honorary coach during the game against Vermont at Hudson Valley’s Sports Complex.
When Duncan was 2 months old she had a medical emergency and her parents didn’t know if she would ever come home. Today, she’s 12, and loves dance and horses.
A portion of the tickets to the game will benefit the American Heart Association Cardiac Kids program. These tickets need to be purchased by Thursday. If you're interested in buying tickets - click here.
Denyse Mackey, the foundation’s founder, organized “Play Your Heart Out” as a way to celebrate American Heart Month and bring attention to congenital heart defects. Feb. 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week.
One in 110 children are born with a congenital heart defect.