BATON ROUGE — National Wear Red Day was Friday and women in Baton Rouge rallied together to help raise awareness for the number one killer of women: cardiovascular disease. 

Hundreds of women joined together at L'Auberge Hotel and Casino for the Go Red for Women luncheon with the American Heart Association. 

Nearly 45 percent of women over 20 are living with some form of cardiovascular disease.

"With women, we tend to take care of everything else and we come last, so we may be overlooking signs that someone else who may not be as busy pays attention to," Kerin Spears, executive director of Greater Louisiana, said.

It's a disease that can go from zero to 100 in a matter of minutes. Women from all walks of life came together to share their stories, some younger than you may expect. 

In 2022, Kayla Sacco was 26 when she was riding in the car with her husband when she felt her neck go stiff. When she went to pop it, she dissected her vertebral artery, causing a stroke. 

"I went on to have two more in the following week. It affected my total right side, so I had facial drooping, slurring, the one-sided weakness which are classic symptoms of a stroke and thankfully my husband noticed that quickly and I was able to get to the hospital," Sacco said.

Studies done by the American Heart Association show that women are less likely than men to receive bystander CPR in an emergency and 23 percent less likely to survive sudden cardiac arrest. The studies show this comes from fear of hurting women, people assuming someone else will help or they're afraid to touch a woman's chest.

"A lot of people, there may be a fear, what if something goes wrong, what if I can't save them, what if I break a rib, which you probably will, and so we have laws that protect that bystander that they're in good faith that they're stepping in to save a life,” Spears said.

Friday, after almost three years in recovery, Sacco had a very important message to share about cardiovascular disease.

"Just be aware of those symptoms and get out of the mind frame that it only happens to geriatric patients that it can happen to us young women,” Sacco said.

To join the movement, wear red, donate during this month and learn about what you can do to help combat cardiovascular disease in women by visiting heart.org.