WAUKESHA, Wis. — After the collapse of Lebron James’ son from a cardiac event, a Waukesha mother raises the warning that all children and young adults should be screened for heart issues. Patty Lermer does not want another family to have to suffer through the tragedy they are living through.
Four years after her son’s death, Patty returned to the park and the basketball court in Waukesha where her son collapsed.
“He was playing basketball with his friends and he didn’t feel well. So he went to sit down and the bench and his friends continued to play,” said Patty.
Kai was 16 years old. He played three sports in high school and never complained of any health issues. So when his friends found him laying on the ground in cardiac arrest, they were shocked.
“There was no warning,” said Patty. “He also worked out, he was a triathlete, as I mentioned. We went to his well checks every year and there was absolutely no sign.”
Lebron James’ son Bronny James suffered a cardiac event Monday, according to a family statement. The 18-year-old was at basketball practice at the University of Southern California when it happened.
The CDC says every year around 2,000 people under the age of 25 who are seemly healthy, die from a sudden cardiac event. University of Wisconsin Hospitals' Dr. Jeff Pothof says this is different than a heart attack.
"Oftentimes, especially with young people, it is not so much a heart attack but an electrical conduction disturbance in the heart that can then result in the heart not pumping. If first responders are close by, they can restart the heart using electricity, defibrillation,” said Pothof.
After Kai’s death, his family learned he had an undiagnosed congenital heart condition. His mother has since had an AED installed in the park where he collapsed. But she says a simple EKG test, which monitors a heart, is what doctors believed could have saved his life.
Their family has since helped get a law passed in Wisconsin that requires doctors to share information on sudden cardiac arrests for high school students and student-athletes and include the option to get their child an EKG. And Kai 11 Save a Heart Mission, the foundation named for her son, is now offering them at a low cost to people.
“The thing that I regret the most is that the EKG could have detected his heart condition and he would still be with us today. So we’re here to prevent it from happening to any other family. That’s all we want to do,” said Patty.
The Kai 11 Save A Heart Mission will be offering EKG tests for $25 to people between the ages of 13-21. You just must register for a test before the event on Aug. 9 in Waukesha here.
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