Angela Bassett Is Honoring Her Late Mom With This Health Campaign

This year’s Mother’s Day was hard for Angela Bassett.

It was the second year the actress spent without her mom, Betty Jane Bassett, and coming up on the third year since her June 2014 death.

The difference this year, however, was that Bassett chose a unique way to honor her mom’s legacy. She joined forces with Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company for the For Your Sweetheart campaign to raise awareness about the high risk that Type 2 diabetics have of getting heart disease, the same condition her mom died from.

“This is just a small way to honor her life and who she was. She laughed greatly and cared about people, you know, and always encouraged me,” Bassett told HuffPost. “This is just a small way to do that and to help others ‘cause I’m coming into contact with people consistently … who have family members who are affected by this.”

Those with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than those without it, and the disease is the No. 1 health-related killer of those with Type 2 diabetes, the World Heart Federation reports. Despite these alarming facts, about 52 percent of adults living with diabetes don’t understand the increased cardiovascular risk, according to a survey conducted by the campaign.

Basset said she understands that all too well because her mom was reluctant to talk about her health. That’s one reason Bassett asked her maternal uncle, Ralph Gilbert, to join the campaign with her. Gilbert, like Bassett’s mom, has Type 2 diabetes. Now that they know the risks that come along with it, they’re better prepared to make sure that Gilbert is eating healthier, exercising, consistently taking his medicine and being transparent with his doctor.