Former Washington G Kayla Burt will join The Times readers for a live chat Wednesday afternoon. Burt, 28, has bounced around careers since leaving UW, going from coaching to becoming a certified EMT. She's currently the outreach coordinator at The Hope Heart Institute, a program that has meaning to Burt because of past experiences.

In December 2002, she collapsed at her house while hanging out with teammates on New Year's Eve. Two teammates immediately began CPR and paramedics soon arrived to shock Burt's heart back into normal sinus rhythm.

She was in a coma for 15 hours and spent several days recovering at UW Medical Center. Six days after collapsing, she had an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) placed in her chest to shock her heart back to a normal rhythm should another arrhythmia ever occur again.

Burt subsequently had to end her basketball career.

In 2007, she was by former UW coach June Daugherty's side as she suffered cardiac arrest. The two remain close and do a lot of work in the community to raise heart awareness.

After graduating from UW in 2006, Burt spent time as an assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Portland. She later worked as an EMT in south King County and as a medical/surgical technician in the ER at Valley Medical Center.

February is Heart Health Awareness Month and on Thursday the UW women will host a Heart Health Awareness Night at Hec Ed. The Huskies (12-9, 4-7 Pac-12) play Oregon (13-10, 5-6).

Click below to join the chat on Wednesday.