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stop sudden cardiac arrest in its tracks
SCA is the #1 cause of death on school campuses. It's also the #1 killer of student-athletes.
Let's Act!
The Back*N*Black mission is to educate parents of the risks associated with undiagnosed heart conditions in their children while stressing the importance of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) preparedness.
If you are looking for a guest speaker for your community organization, medical association, or patient panel, drop me an email from the Contact page of this site!
my story
Hidden signs of trouble
Little did I know while winning three Kansas state titles and most inspirational player my senior year that I had a congenital heart defect. Though I experienced numerous symptoms throughout my life, I wasn't diagnosed with CHD until I was 47 years old. I was so used to the symptoms that I just played on. I feel blessed something tragic didn't happen to me. Some are not so lucky!
A new beginning
May 28, 2019 was not only my 31st wedding anniversary, it was the day I had open-heart surgery to treat my congenital heart defect. Two days later my heart stopped beating 14 times. For some reason I made it through that grey day. I say grey because the world literally looked grey to me.
During recovery I began to research how I might return to running and my active lifestyle. It was through that research I began to see the devastation SCA was causing, particularly in young athletes. I had no idea SCA was such a killer. I felt compelled to act.
friends
Nearly 1,000 people die every day from
Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Many are young athletes with undetected heart defects.