On May 20, 2005 Travis was three weeks away from graduation from the 8th grade when he collapsed at his middle school. He had suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest caused by a previously undiagnosed heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. He was taken to Children’s Hospital in San Diego by helicopter. Travis spent a total of four weeks in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. An MRI was taken to ascertain the extent of the damage to his brain. The MRI revealed massive brain cell death – Travis had gone 23 minutes without circulation. He was blind, he was completely paralyzed, he could not speak and he could not chew or swallow. Travis died a week later on June 25, 2005.

Matthew, age 24, suffered sudden cardiac arrest due to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. He was followed by a cardiologist since birth but had no symptoms.

On Sept. 21, 2003, 15-year-old Justin, was playing baseball when he was hit in the chest by a wild pitch. The impact of the pitch caused Justin to go into Commotio Cordis, and he collapsed on the field. Justin never regained consciousness.

Sara was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in November, 2001. Doctors told her she would live a long life but perhaps need a transplant in the future. She died on January 26, 2003, while watching a video after a day of college classes.

Patrick, age 14, was playing in a hockey tournament when he collapsed on the ice after scoring the game’s first goal. First responders were unable to revive him. It was later determined Patrick had numerous heart defects that caused his early death.

Timothy, age 16, was an avid football player. He passed away in his sleep on December 17, 2011. The underlying condition that caused Timonthy’s sudden cardiac death is unknown.

On July 30, 2006, 16-year-old Kaitlin collapsed while sitting at a restaurant with friends. Having been an athlete her entire life and with absolutely no symptoms, she had never had an EKG or echocardiogram. ARVC was found to be the cause of her sudden death. After testing, her brother, who plays ice hockey, was also found to have a heart abnormality.

Aidan, age 7, was a happy and seemingly healthy boy when he suddenly collapsed and died on September 4, 2010. He had no symptoms of a heart condition and his family has no prior history of heart disease. The underlying cause of Aidan’s sudden cardiac death is unknown.

Jenny, age 17, collapsed while playing soccer on August 21, 2008. The cause of her cardiac arrest was an undiagnosed congenital heart defect known as anomalous coronary artery.

Matt, age 16, was an avid pilot , an A+ student and a Cadet Staff Sergeant in Civil Air Patrol. He loved aviation and aspired to go to the Air Force Academy. For his high school homecoming game, Matt did a flyover as his team ran off the field.  After landing his aircraft, he went home and laid down to take a nap and suffered an SCA.  CPR and an AED were unable to revive him.  The cause of death was undetected Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Cody, age 18, was a senior and offensive lineman for his high school football team. He was awarded a college football scholarship. Cody had been training for college football, came home to take a nap, but never woke up. According to autopsy results the cause of death was Idiopathic Left Ventricular Hypertrophy. Postmortem genetic testing was unable to confirm a diagnosis.

Brian, age 24, was adopted at birth.  His adoptive parents did not get a complete family medical history from the birth parents.  Brian played varsity high school soccer. He went on to college and after graduating continued to be active in lacrosse, snowboarding and basketball. He never experienced any symptoms of a heart condition. Brian died in his sleep from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Andrew was 26 when he suddenly died of undiagnosed Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy while running on the treadmill at his gym.  Paramedics administered CPR as did the ER staff, for over an hour, but were never able to get a pulse. His parents were with him in the ER when the physicians recommended that they give them the order to stop resuscitation efforts.

Andrew graduated from Villanova University in 2011 with a B.S.N. while working part-time as an EMT and a volunteer firefighter in Moorestown, NJ.  At the time of his death, Andrew was working as an ER/Trauma nurse and was engaged to his longtime girlfriend. They were to have been married just seven weeks after his death. Andrew was a member of his local Cross Fit, a skydiver, mountain climber (reached the summit of Mt. Washington in January 2010), scuba diver, and runner. All in all, he was very active and physically fit.  Andrew had no symptoms of cardiac problems.

Shauna died unexpectedly at age 14. Two years earlier, she had almost drowned at summer camp. CPR was performed and they were able to get her heart going again. She spent the night in the hospital, but the cause was not determined. She then went to a pediatric cardiologist who did an EKG, Holter monitor and echocardiogram. The cardiologist cleared Shauna, saying that no further cardiac evaluation was necessary.

Shauna seemed fine until February 15, 2006, when she died at cheer practice. After successfully performing a routine stunt, she complained of feeling dizzy and collapsed. CPR was performed. They called for the school’s defibrillator, but the defibrillator was on the other side of campus, so it was not used immediately. The cause of Shauna’s death was Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT).

Simon was 96 days old. He went down for a nap after dinner like he always did and never woke up. It was most likely Long QT Syndrome (LQTS).  After Simon’s death his mom was diagnosed with LQTS.

Josh, age 12, collapsed at the beginning of a soccer camp, while waiting in line to do a low-speed drill. Previously, Josh experienced some shortness of breath during exercise and was evaluated for exercise-induced asthma. Josh’s four siblings were screened for heart conditions and genetic testing was done on his immediate family. Josh’s younger brother, Adam (age 9) was found to have Long QT Syndrome.

Kelsey, age 16, dressed for school and collapsed on the kitchen floor on the morning of January 31, 1997. The resuscitation attempts by family and EMS were unsuccessful. The only warning that anything might have been wrong was an episode of light-headedness some weeks before, which the pediatrician dismissed as flu or “teenage girl dieting.”