Parents turn grief into mission to screen hearts of young athletes

WALDWICK, New Jersey -- A high school is honoring the memory of one its students by offering potentially life-saving tests to ninth graders.

Each year for the past 14, Waldwick High School in Waldwick, New Jersey, has teamed up with the Sean Fisher Memorial Foundation to provide cardiac screenings for its freshmen.

At a recent event at the school, registered cardia sonographers conducted ECGs and Echo tests for the young students.

About 85 freshman student-athletes lay down for the 15-minute test to detect any heart abnormalities.

Over the years, the school has caught potentially life-threatening issues.

"We have. We have definitely caught a bunch and all those students received follow up care with doctors," Waldwick High School Principal Kevin Carroll said.

Sean Fisher died on his 13th birthday back in 2008 from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

His family members say he never complained of any symptoms before suddenly collapsing.

They established a foundation in Sean's name to help other families prevent the shock and lifelong sorrow they've experienced since that tragic day.

"We've been screening one year longer than Sean was alive," Sean's father James Fisher said.

The Sean Fisher Memorial Foundation works with another student heart health charity, mCore, which conducts the screenings. They say too many families misunderstand sudden cardiac arrest.

This year's screenings took on added importance and urgency for families in the wake of last month's frightening on-field cardiac arrest experienced by the Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin.

"They saw it firsthand when Damar Hamlin went down," said Lisa Tennenbaum of mCore. "People are like 'oh my grandpa had a heart attack,' I'm like no. It's an unknown abnormality that takes your heart out of rhythm and you drop and you die."

MCore says seven kids have died of sudden cardiac issues since the Hamlin incident.

Waldwick lacrosse player Frankie Feltmann says her father insists on the screening.

"My brother had a heart murmur, so my dad is cautious about me and my brothers' hearts," Feltmann said.