Download Press Release - The Chad Foundation

THE CHAD FOUNDATION
FOR ATHLETES AND ARTISTS
www.chadfoundation.org,
[email protected]
Arista, Pres. & Founder ~ 917-334-1194, 345 W. 55th St., No. 8E, NYC 10019
____________________________________________________________________
Chad Alan Butrum
April ’67 – April ‘94
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10 September 2010
Contact: Arista
Phone: 917-334-1194
The Chad Foundation Provides Preventive Cardiac Screenings to Athletes at Rice High School in Harlem
to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death and Identify early High Cholesterol, Diabetes, Obesity
What:
The Chad Foundation for Athletes and Artists will provide Cardiac Screenings to athletes at Rice
High School in Harlem,. The screenings: an echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, blood pressure
test, BMI (body mass index) and screenings for high cholesterol and diabetes with a simple fingerstick, help to detect lethal abnormalities such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) and prevent
Sudden Cardiac Death as well as identify potential cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension,
obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes in school-age students. The screenings, which would
normally cost $3,000, will be provided for a nominal donation of $20 per student.
Why:
The number one cause of Sudden Cardiac Death in young athletes is HCM, hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy (abnormal thickening of the heart muscle.) The abnormal gene exists in one in
every 500 births. The CDC says 3,000 young people between 15 and 34 yrs. die annually of
Sudden Cardiac Death. African-American males are more prone to die from HCM than whites
(44% blacks vs. 25% whites). A recent study of 249 teenagers found that 80 percent had an
unhealthy buildup of cholesterol on artery walls, often the result of eating high-fat foods.
Between 1969 to1999, the obesity rate among Americans aged 18 t0 29 more than doubled from
5% to 12%. One in three children who are born in 2000 will develop diabetes.
When:
Saturday, 25th of September, 2010 from 10AM to 3PM
Where:
Rice High School (Library and Cafeteria)
74 West 124th St. (at corner of Lenox)
Harlem, NY 10017 (2 train to 125th stop)
Who:
The Chad Foundation for Athletes and Artists will provide the screenings with the donated services
of cardiologists and ultrasound technicians from Mt. Sinai Medical Center and nurses from the
Cardiovascular Genetics Program at NYU School of Medicine. The screenings are supported
through corporate partners, Medtronics and The Green Foundation. Philips is a major partner
providing ultrasound ECHO machines and ECG Pagewriters. Ultrasound manufacturer, SonoSite,
will also provide portable laptop-size equipment for the echocardiograms. The Office of Black
Ministries will provide lunch for the medical staff and community volunteers.
“The Gift of Heart and Art”
The Chad Foundation for Athletes and Artists is a non-profit, charitable organization founded in honour of
young Chad Butrum who collapsed suddenly and died at 26 yrs. of age while playing football in Van Nuys,
CA with no history of heart disease. His foundation inspires youth to live as he did- “Healthy body/mind/
spirit.” (Chad never smoked a cigarette or drank an alcoholic beverage his entire Life.) Chad has provided 23
heart screenings in 5 states and abroad (in Austria and Sweden, screening 26 countries of athletes
participating in the “Homeless Streetsoccer World Cups”) for a total of 5,500 persons screened. Post 9-11,
Chad provided 2,000 NYPD officers with complete cardiovascular screenings at The NY Police Academy. The
Chad Players have performed 6 off Broadway multi-cultural performances to challenge the mind and heal the
spirit (“Days of Wine and Roses,” Off Broadway and, in Atlantic City, their production was sponsored by
“The Atlantic Commission on Missing and Abused Children” as the Community Event of the year to deter
teens from alcoholism.) – “The Gift of Heart and Art.”
THE CHAD FOUNDATION
FOR ATHLETES AND ARTISTS
www.chadfoundation.org,
[email protected]
Arista, Pres. & Founder ~ 917-334-1194, 345 W. 55th St., No. 8E, NYC 10019
____________________________________________________________________
Chad Alan Butrum
April ’67 – April ‘94
Chad Foundation Screening Program
The Chad Foundation was the first in the nation to provide “Free Echocardiogram Screenings to High
School Athletes” at North Hollywood High School in 2000. In their pilot program for expanded heart
screenings, organized by Chad and Living Heart, out of 200 students screened for hypertension, cholesterol,
diabetes, obesity, arterial elasticity, and the echocardiogram; results found one-third of those students tested
were at risk for one or more of the above cardio risk factors such as, high cholesterol levels, hypertension,
raised blood sugar and/or structural heart anomalies. These students were referred to their family physicians
for follow up treatment. The echocardiogram, which most insurance companies do not cover for
prescreening athletic examinations, costs between $1500 and $2000, but the ultrasound test is considered by
medical experts as the best diagnostic tool to detect structural anomalies such as Hypertophic
Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease of the heart muscle which is the No.1 killer in Sudden Cardiac Deaths in
Young Athletes, and took the lives of young basketball greats, Reggie Lewis and Hank Gathers.
A recent survey done by researchers from U.C.L.A. and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
found more than 800 National Collegiate Athletic Associations have campus screening programs for
potential heart problems that are inadequate, using doctors without cardiac training, and failing to ask key
questions about family history, such as history of fainting, dizziness, exclusion of sports, history of
premature cardiac death under 35 years of age. Chad includes cardio history in their questionnaires.
On average, Chad has found 10 heart anomalies for every 50 students screened. In the recent “Annual
Chad Heart Screening” in Los Angeles in June, 19 anomalies were found, two of the more serious: " one
individual was found with significant aortic insufficiency and a dilated aortic root – he was advised to
obtain formal cardiac follow-up; another individual was found to have Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
– with potential risk for sudden death due to an arrhythmia. The second patient is scheduled for a
catheter ablation which should completely eliminate any cardiac risk and allow the patient to return to
full athletic activities in a short period of time.”
.
For the last 3 years, The Chad Foundation has been a major partner of “John Hopkins Heart Hype
Screening Initiative” which has provided free Echocardiograms and ECG’s to hundreds of high school star
athletes competing in state finals at Morgan University in Baltimore. The event also honours former Boston
Celtic star, Reggie Lewis, who died of HCM at just 27 yrs. old. JHMI instituted a national database to house
all statistics from Chad and other screening organizations thus beginning the first research database into HCM
and other anomalies found through prescreening initiatives in the U.S. Dr. Theodore Abraham of JHMI who
is leading this initiative says, “We hope this drive will lead us to better screening methodology and drive the
search for solutions to early diagnosis of otherwise fatal cardiac illness in the young. All collected
information will be housed in our database and used for future drives as well as to help persons diagnosed
with any anomaly to seek follow up help either through their own physician or the Johns Hopkins system.
This is an important step designed to help doctors understand how conditions such as heart disease or diabetes
start, especially in this younger population where present studies do not exist.”
Countries like Japan and Italy have been screening their athletes for years; the ECG is mandatory in
order to play sports. The results of the Italian study, which screened 40,000 athletes over a 26-year period, are
gaining much support globally. Dr. Gaetano Thiene of the Padua Center for Sports Medicine said, “In over 26
yrs. of preparticipation screenings, Sudden Cardiac Death was reduced by 90% which proves that
preparticipation screening is a life-saving tool.” For the first time in its history, the NFL is considering
making Echocardiograms mandatory for draftees. For more info on the foundation or its “Cardiovascular
Screening Program for Student Athletes,” contact, Arista, (917-334-1194), or visit the website,
www.chadfoundation.org.
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THE CHAD FOUNDATION
FOR ATHLETES AND ARTISTS
www.chadfoundation.org,
[email protected]
Arista, Pres. & Founder ~ 917-334-1194, 345 W. 55th St., No. 8E, NYC 10019
____________________________________________________________________
Chad Alan Butrum
April ’67 – April ‘94
Recent Victims of Sudden Cardiac Death
-Marc-Vivien Foé, 28, (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian international footballer,
who played in midfield for both club and country. With success in the French League, and stints in the
English Premier League, his sudden death, while in the middle of an international competitive fixture,
came as a shock to the worldwide footballing community.[1] He was posthumously decorated with the
Commander of the National Order of Valour
-CAMBRIDGE, MA – 2008 Sixty high school students gathered in a circle on a Cambridge
playgournd, shielding candles from cold gusts. They will not see what he would have become. A few
nights after his college acceptance, just three weeks before graduation, Jude Odige’s heart stopped.
After a game of pick-up basketball – his greatest joy, his heart just stopped at just 18 yrs. old.
-Taylor Allan, 16, May 8th 1991 – April 26th 2008. Cause of Death ARVC (Arrthymogenic Right
Ventricular cardiomyopathy) Her father Ken Allan said, “Understand the symptoms, don’t take
chances, see your Doctor, insist on a specialist (cardiologist) to review test results. Please believe me
when I say “FAINTNG IS NOT NORMAL FOR A TEENAGER.”
-NFL Player Gaines Adams dies at 26, January 17, 2010 NFL star and Chicago Bears player Gaines
Adams passed away Sunday morning from cardiac arrest.
-Tyler Sikora - A 15-Year-Old Collapses and Dies During Basketball Game, 22nd May 2010. An
eighth grader is remembered at Friday night vigil. Tyler collapsed and died while playing basketball at
his high school north of Los Angeles.
-May 23,
2010, Former major league pitcher Jose Lima dead at 37, in Los Angeles.
-Jeron Lewis: College Basketball Player Dies on Court at 21 years old, Jan 15, 2010. The South
Indiana player had an enlarged heart
-Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Medical examiner rules Kennedy died of heart disease
TAMPA, Fla. -- Major league pitcher Joe Kennedy, 28-year-old, was afflicted with a condition that
caused his heart to suddenly stop beating at his in-laws' home on November 23, when he collapsed and
later died.
Ryan Shay, 28, a top-ranked U.S. marathon runner training for the Olympics, suffered from cardiac
arrest part way through the 2007 New York marathon. Shay, who hailed from a prominent Michigan
family of runners, had been diagnosed with a large heart at 14, and his brother had quit competitive
sports after being diagnosed with arrhythmia.
Damien Nash, 24, a football player with the Denver Broncos, died in 2007 of an undiagnosed heart
problem after playing in a charity game to benefit a foundation named in his brother Darris’ honor.
Darris, a heart transplant recipient, had suffered from a cardiomyopathy that was not believed to be
genetic.
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THE CHAD FOUNDATION
FOR ATHLETES AND ARTISTS
www.chadfoundation.org,
[email protected]
Arista, Pres. & Founder ~ 917-334-1194, 345 W. 55th St., No. 8E, NYC 10019
____________________________________________________________________
Chad Alan Butrum
April ’67 – April ‘94
Survivors
-Mon May 17, 2010 -“ 17-year-old Zac Herold forced to retire before first pro match.
Herold suffers from the condition Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – which causes abnormal
thickening of a part of the heart muscle. With this condition, under strenuous exercise, there is a risk of
developing a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia. Unfortunately the only way to
reduce this risk is to put significant life-long restrictions on exercise.”
“Announcing my retirement from soccer at this age is something I never, ever thought would happen
to me,” said Zac Herold. “I am grateful to Dr. Smith, and all the specialists I’ve seen over the last few
months – this news was very hard to take but I know it’s the best decision for me and my health. My
parents have been with me every step of the way, and it means so much to me that I’m able to `retire'
as a Toronto FC player.”
-Michaela Gagna was crowned Miss Massachusetts in June of 2006 and went on to compete for the
title of Miss America 2007. Despite her heart condition, LongQT Syndrome, Michaela is an
accomplished athlete, competing regularly in soccer and basketball, and is a MIAA certified high
school track and field coach. Additionally, she is a certified CPR/AED trainer. “At 17 years old, my
life was squarely put in perspective when I was told I could have died during the first unprotected
years of my life. I turned my obstacles into opportunities, and my work is done in the memory of those
who were not given that second chance.”
-Eric Licata, at 17 while having his wisdom teeth pulled, his oral surgeon detected an arrhythmia.
Further testing revealed HCM (hypertorphic cardiomyopathy). Eric found The Chad Foundation on
the web, a national screening organization and asked them to come and do heart screening at his high
school, Newport Beach Harbor High, in CA so that no other student would die. (A 16 yr. old water
polo player had died a few years earlier from Sudden Cardiac Arrest.) Today, Eric graduated college in
Dec. 2009 and is working as a business consultant in the wine industry.
Domenico Fioravanti, 30, Olympic gold medalist in the 100- and 200-metre breaststroke at the 2000
Sydney Games, was diagnosed in 2004 during his native Italy’s annual screening for hypertrophic
cardiomyopathies. By Italian law, he had to withdraw from competitive sports and now has an
implanted defibrillator. Though, Fioravanti has been okayed by his cardiologist to pursue some active
sport.
Nicholas Knapp, at 17, was a star recruit for Northwestern University’s basketball team in 1994, until
he collapsed from cardiac arrest in the middle of a game. Knapp was revived on the scene, and later,
in hospital care, was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, after which he had a defibrillator
implanted.
For more info on the foundation or its “Cardiovascular Screening Program for Student Athletes,
contact, Arista, (917-334-1194), or visit the website, www.chadfoundation.org.
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