STORIES
of the
HEART
Witness the devastation that Sudden Cardiac Arrest is having on our youth — stories of seemingly healthy young lives lost suddenly and unexpectedly to SCA, and of those who suffered severely debilitating consequences of SCA — all because an underlying heart condition went undetected or the appropriate live-saving actions were not taken.
Greg Holthaus
Greg Holthaus

Greg, age 18, was visiting friends on a college campus when he said he wasn’t feeling well and went to the dorm bathroom. His friends woke up to find Greg collapsed on the bathroom floor. Although CPR was performed, they believe Greg was already dead. The autopsy revealed he died of sudden cardiac arrest caused by an unknown heart defect, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. His death was the first sign of a problem.
Shane Holton
Shane Holton

Shane, age 21, died in his sleep on an Army base at Fort Wainwright Alaska in November 2013. He was born premature at 24 weeks, but went on to thrive with no known health problems. Shane joined the Army after high school and passed all of his physicals and basic training. The underlying cause of his cardiac arrest is unknown.
Kyle Honan
Kyle Honan

Kyle was 24 years old when he died in his mother’s arms of sudden cardiac arrest caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She had performed CPR for 25 minutes but could not save him. He had a heart of gold, always seeking to help others, including saving a friend from committing suicide. He was a beloved big brother to his two younger brothers, one of whom has autism, ran Special Olympics throughout high school and tutored children with autism during the last years of his life.
Shannon Huber
Shannon Huber

Danielle Hymowitz
Danielle Hymowitz

Danielle, age 11, was swimming at summer camp when she complained of exhaustion, shortness of breath and chest pain. After seeing the camp nurse and returning to activity, she was ultimately sent home. Within a short period she became lethargic and was taken to the hospital. She died within four hours after the onset of symptoms of viral myocarditis.
Ian Hyzy
Ian Hyzy

Ian, age 7, went into sudden cardiac arrest at home on February 12, 2016. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The next day, he was transported to an out of state children’s hospital where he was treated for two and a half weeks. It was quickly discovered that Ian had Long QT Syndrome, which was exacerbated by Zithromax, an antibiotic he had been taking. He also suffered brain damage from his cardiac arrest. Ian’s family took him home, where he passed away on March 6, 2016. Genetic testing revealed that Ian was born with the gene mutation. His family tested negative for Long QT.
Jessamyn Iselin
Jessamyn Iselin

Logan Janik
Logan Janik

Logan was an avid outdoors man and an exceptional lacrosse player. While at a friend’s birthday party his canoe tipped over, which caused him to panic and swim at a very fast pace. He was seen bobbing in the water and was pulled out by an 11-year-old girl. Bystanders were trying to revive him when paramedics arrived and discovered he was in sudden cardiac arrest. Logan was pronounced dead at the hospital due to drowning caused by cardiomegaly and an arrhythmia that stopped his heart. He was 17 years old.
Jordan Johnson
Jordan Johnson

Jordan, age 15, was sleeping when he suffered SCA and died on November 25, 2006. The autopsy determined that the cause of death was Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Jordan’s yearly sports physicals had never shown any signs of HCM.
Ashley Jolly
Ashley Jolly

Darius Jones
Darius Jones

Darius, age 15, suffered SCA while competing in a youth basketball game on October 11, 2009. Precious minutes ticked away and Darius died because there was no AED on site
Graeme Jones
Graeme Jones

Michael Jones
Michael Jones

Michael, age 16, collapsed during a travel team soccer practice. One of his coaches described Michael as acting strange and with weird expression in his face. Another coach performed CPR until EMS arrived. He was transported to the hospital where he died. The underlying condition that led to his cardiac arrest is unknown.
Michael Abt, Jr.
Michael Abt, Jr.

Michael, age 12, collapsed on March 10, 2006, while playing capture-the-flag at school in PE class. CPR was performed. The school had an AED, but it was forgotten until it was too late to save Michael.
Paul Simmons, Jr.
Paul Simmons, Jr.

Paul, age 17, collapsed while playing basketball during the senior class All Night Shut-In event at his high school. The cause of death was Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Paul was captain of the varsity basketball team and had no prior signs or symptoms of a heart condition.
Eddie Barnett, Jr.
Eddie Barnett, Jr.

Shawn Cannon, Jr.
Shawn Cannon, Jr.

Cameron Juniel
Cameron Juniel

Cameron, age 20, suffered sudden cardiac arrest after playing basketball with friends at a local gym. Attempts to save Cameron with CPR and AED use were unsuccessful. The cause of Cameron’s cardiac arrest was Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Christopher Kanervisto
Christopher Kanervisto

Christopher, age 19, was very active in sports, including golf, skiing and mountain biking. He had always been healthy and his doctor visits mainly consisted of well checkups. After receiving the H1N1 vaccine, Christopher exhibited flu-like symptoms that seemed to go away. He passed away in his sleep on November 20, 2009, one month after receiving the vaccine. The cause of Christopher’s death was viral myocarditis.
Sarah Katz
Sarah Katz

Diagnosed with Long QT syndrome at age 5 after she had a seizure in the middle of a swimming lesson, Sarah was placed on beta blockers and had continued clean bills of health. That’s why her family was in total shock when they lost her at age 21 to SCA. Very aware of her condition, Sarah had always been very responsible with her heart health. She was a junior at the University of Pennsylvania and had been involved in AED training and teaching CPR since she was in elementary school, and was in the process of bringing CPR training to Penn. Her school friends carried on her efforts and had a successful CPR certification class.
Adam Keenan
Adam Keenan

Adam, age 20, suffered cardiac arrest while practicing baseball. The cause of death was an undiagnosed heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC).
Antwoine Key
Antwoine Key

Maxwell King
Maxwell King

Charlie Kontos
Charlie Kontos

August Koontz
August Koontz

August, a multi-sport athlete died in his sleep at age 18 due to an undiagnosed heart condition known as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Alec Kornet
Alec Kornet

Alec, age 17, was an honor roll student, band member and three-sport athlete. He collapsed after complaining of feeling lightheaded during hockey practice. CPR was administered immediately and by the time the AED was retrieved paramedics had arrived. Alec had no prior symptoms or a known heart condition. The cause of death was Myocarditis. Postmortem genetic testing of Alec’s tissues was negative. His brothers had a full cardiac work.
Sara Krauss
Sara Krauss

Matthew Krug
Matthew Krug

Matthew suffered a cardiac arrest two days after his 16th birthday while playing basketball. He received CPR and three AED shocks before heart rhythm returned, but remained in a coma for 12 days before passing away on July 18, 2001. He was an active swimmer and roller hockey player. Cause of death was undetected Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Andrew Lamphere
Andrew Lamphere

Andrew, age 11, was at football practice when he experienced difficulty breathing. He had been diagnosed with asthma, so he thought he was having an asthma attack. Before he could get his inhaler, he collapsed in his coaches arms. He ended up going into cardiac arrest. The medics arrived and were unable to revive him. The next day an autopsy concluded his cause of death was Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.
Kristoffer Larsen
Kristoffer Larsen

Kristoffer, age 22, suffered a sudden cardiac death on May 27th 2016 while visiting his grandparents in Norway. He was a healthy and active young man that cared greatly for his siblings, family, friends and people around him. Kristoffer was an active cross country and long distance track runner through high school and early college years. He had not had any previous indications or prior history of heart problems. Kristoffer cause of death was cardiomyopathy.
Tommy Leek
Tommy Leek

Curtis LeMair
Curtis LeMair

Curtis, 18, was a member of the Northern State University (NSU) wrestling team, a Division II NCAA sport. After practice on October 17, 2018, Curtis went back to his dorm at NSU, ate, did homework and then went to sleep. He never woke up.
Curtis had no symptoms of a heart condition. He had a sports physical just weeks before his untimely death and was cleared. The cause of death was an enlarged heart.
Adam Lemel
Adam Lemel

Adam was playing basketball for his high school team on January 22, 1999. He walked into the huddle, collapsed and died. Cause of the fatal sudden cardiac arrest was found to be Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD).
Kai Lermer
Kai Lermer

A 16-year-old tri-athlete honor student, Kai collapsed at the park playing basketball with friends. Though he never showed any signs of having a heart condition, he had undetected Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. A true friend and inspiration to others who was looking forward to his high school prom, Kai’s life is now celebrated through the efforts of the Kai Lermer Memorial Fund to prevent another family from suffering the loss of a child to SCA.
Robbie Levine
Robbie Levine

Andrew Lewis
Andrew Lewis

Andrew, age 15, was playing baseball when he held his head and told another player that he didn’t feel well. Shortly thereafter Andrew collapsed in cardiac arrest. He had no symptoms and rarely got sick. The cause of death was viral myocarditis and bicuspid valve.
Annie Liberati
Annie Liberati

Chase Lightfoot
Chase Lightfoot

Chase was a healthy 16-year-old high school senior with no heart issues, although he was diagnosed with asthma. Because he was large for his age with an elevated blood pressure, his doctor recommended he get a series of echoes, which failed to detect any abnormalities. On September 9, 2016, Chase suffered cardiac arrest at a football game, witnessed by his mom. CPR was administered and EMS arrived in minutes, but he did not survive. The cause of death was right anomalous coronary artery.
Nicholas Lindsay
Nicholas Lindsay

Brian Locklear
Brian Locklear

Brian, age 14, was an A student, played the cello in his middle school orchestra, and enjoyed internet computer games. Brian, his sister, and his mom were diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Then 9 months later, when his mom and sister were home, Brian went into the bathroom to take a shower and went into cardiac arrest, before he could even turn the water on. His mom found him approximately 5 minutes later, started CPR, and called 911. But it was too late. His mother and sister now have implanted defibrillators.
Sandy Loftus
Sandy Loftus

Ryan Lopynski
Ryan Lopynski

Ryan, age 18, was a seemingly healthy college freshman at Virginia Tech, when he died suddenly and without any warning at his home. He had come home from college for the weekend and was getting ready for his sister’s basketball game when his father found him collapsed in the shower. After his death, it was discovered that Ryan had an enlarged heart.
Matt Love
Matt Love

Grace Lovegrove
Grace Lovegrove

Marque Lowman
Marque Lowman

Marque, age 21, was a senior in college and a member of the military. He was home from college when his mother went to wake him up on May 14, 2014, but Marque would not respond. His mother performed CPR until paramedics arrived, but it was too late. The cause of death was acute myocardial ischemia. Marque had never had any medical issues.
Kevin Lucas
Kevin Lucas

Kevin, age 15, collapsed on his way to class. He had been diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy and received a heart transplant 18 months prior to his fatal cardiac arrest. His death was linked to organ rejection.
Rafe Maccarone
Rafe Maccarone

Rafe, age 15, collapsed and died in the arms of his teammates during soccer practice at school. The cause of death was undetected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
John Mack
John Mack

John, age 17, collapsed in cardiac arrest after a stick check to his chest during a club lacrosse game on November 30, 2006. It took 19 minutes to get an AED to the field to restart John’s heart. John suffered irreparable brain damage and was removed from life support three days later and became an organ donor. Following John’s death, a benefit was held by family and friends. The money raised was used to purchase 21 AEDs; 21 was the number John wore on his lacrosse jersey.
Donella Mackmiller
Donella Mackmiller

Zachary Mago
Zachary Mago

Zac passed away on July 5, 2018 while taking a nap. He was one week shy of his 18th birthday. He was a standout on his basketball team and an honor student. Zac was fiercely competitive and held himself to the highest standards. He loved every aspect of basketball, and he dedicated his free time to perfecting his game. He was extremely healthy and fit. CPR and an AED were used, but Zac did not respond. He had an EKG and an ECHO in 2014 with normal results. Zac died from cardiopulmonary arrest due to cardiomegaly and idiopathic fibrosis of anterior papillary muscle of the heart.
Legacy of the Lost is dedicated to all the young lives lost to Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
FOR PARENTS WHO HAVE LOST A CHILD TO SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST
If you are grieving the death of your child, or know bereaved parents struggling with the emotional trauma of their tragic loss, please reach out to Parent Heart Watch for support or to share your story.