“Tyrone was a valuable part of this football family,” Bulldogs coach Sonny Dykes said. “This is a tragic, senseless loss, but he made a lasting impact on this team, university and everyone that knew him.”  A roommate of Duplessis made the emergency call after the running back woke up with chest pain, Louisiana Tech spokesman Patrick Walsh said.  The 21-year-old Duplessis, a third-year student from New Orleans, recently completed his sophomore season of eligibility.

Dykes has informed his players of Duplessis’ death and the team held a meeting to discuss it. The university has also made grief counselors available to the team. ”We were deeply saddened,” Louisiana Tech President Dan Reneau said. “Tyrone was not only a valuable member of our football program, but much more importantly, he was a valued member of the Tech Family. This is a painful loss for our campus community and our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.”

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After collapsing at wrestling practice Wednesday night and being air-lifted to Denver, Summit High School Senior Tristan White was on life support and still in critical condition Thursday, according to Summit School District spokeswoman Jaimee Borger.

The cause of White’s condition is still unknown. An additional statement from the school Thursday afternoon said the next 24 to 48 hours will be crucial for White.  Borger said the update was the most recent the district had received, which came through high school staff that have contact with White’s family.

After White collapsed, emergency responders from Red, White and Blue Fire District, Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office and Summit County Ambulance Service arrived at the scene. He was taken to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center before being air-lifted to Denver; Borger said the family has asked the name of the hospital not be disclosed.

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Full Story www.tennessean.com/article/20120130/OPINION03/301300009/CPR-bill-will-create-many-life-savers

As I sit here on the seventh anniversary of his death, I can say that some good has come.

(1) Phyllis discovered her potentially-fatal heart condition – Long QT Syndrome.

(2) Jaden joined our family.

(3) To date, at least 35 kids are living safer lives knowing about their hidden heart defect.

(4) I have met some pretty incredible, passionate and selfless people that would never have entered my life but for Simon’s death.

This day still sucks.  There are a bunch of days that still suck.  But in between, there’s something to appreciate.  There’s some good that’s come of this and fortunately, through the grief and pain, I can see it now.

The bill is an attempt to reduce the number of youth athletes who die from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) – a condition where the heart’s electrical system malfunctions and stops pumping blood to the rest of the body, often without any visible symptoms.

“In the US, an estimated 7,000 children die each year from sudden cardiac arrest with student athletes two to three times more likely to suffer and die from this silent killer,” said Vitale (D-Middlesex). “By simply having an automated external defibrillator on hand at sporting events and practices and training coaches and staff to properly use these life-saving devices, these deaths could be prevented.”

Read more: http://njtoday.net/2012/01/23/senate-committee-advances-bill-to-protect-child-athletes-from-sudden-cardiac-arrest/#ixzz1kOyNhH3w

Luke Swearingin was a well-known and well-liked student and Special Olympian. Officials said he fell to the floor in gym class. Staff members rushed to his aid, started to perform CPR and then called 911.  Paramedics came to the school to take Swearingin to a Lee’s Summit hospital, where he died.

“He was a friendly kid, an outgoing kid,” said Raymore-Peculiar Superintendent Jeff Kyle. “He had a lot of fun, played on our Special Olympics basketball team and was always high-fiving people. He loved to talk with you, was an avid dancer. (He was) just one of those kids that just made you feel good all the time.”

Swearingin’s basketball team won a bronze medal at a tournament in Belton two weeks ago.

Cody Sherrell, a 14-year-old from La Center, collapsed at basketball practice and later died. And a month earlier, 15-year-old John Hayes suffered cardiac arrest on the school bus on the way home from Richland High School.

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In recent years, the number of reported cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has declined, with a 50 percent drop reported since 1990.

While that’s good news on the surface, researchers are now hoping to determine whether this is due to true public health improvements, or is simply a difference in how deaths are recorded, by creating a new database.  Details about how the database, called the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Case Registry, will help researchers answer the questions that surround SIDS are described today in an article by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Right now, when we want to do surveillance and actually monitor trends in SIDS and other infant deaths… we’re limited by the data collected [in U.S. mortality records],” said article co-author Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza, a senior scientist at the CDC.

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HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB) — When he started his freshman year at UMass just a few months ago, Jonathan “Jonno” Gray picked up right where he’d left off when he graduated Holyoke High School. “Everybody enjoyed being around him,” UMass rowing crew club advisor Brian Arnold told ABC40 Monday.  “He was dedicated and passionate about not only the men’s crew, but just being at UMass in general.”

And now he is gone too soon.  Gray died at his family’s Holyoke home Thursday, January 5, apparently while working out.  The kinesiology major had garnered a 3.1 GPA in his maiden semester at UMass, while winning the hearts of many. “Not only a strong teammate,” continued Arnold, “but a really good friend.  I think in the short time that they knew Jon, they were able to build some really good relationships and friendships with him.”

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In November 2010, the Lepkes opted to pay the extra money for an optional athletic heart screening for their son, Matt. The ultrasound test, through Transmed Inc.’s Screening America program, was offered by the Beresford School District. The Lepkes’ decision was more about supporting the sports program at the school, where Scott was the high school principal at the time, than it was about any concern for their son’s health.

“We never, ever thought that there was a problem with him. He’d been an athlete his whole life,” said Sarah of her 12-year-old son.

But the ultrasound revealed a life-threatening defect in Matt’s heart – a large hole between his left and right atrium that had been there since birth. So large, in fact, that it went undetected during routine physicals that might have caught smaller, noisier heart murmurs.

“That’s the thing with murmurs – the bigger they are, the less likely you are to catch them,” said Scott, who has been superintendent of the Custer School District since July. “His was so big, that it wasn’t making a noise.”

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