MELBOURNE, Fla. — Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death on school campuses, according to the National Institutes of Health.

One group is urging parents to get their kids screened, even if they don’t show any issues on the outside. One family finally decided to do so, and it saved a life.

What You Need To Know

  • According to the National Institutes of Health, sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death on school campuses

  • Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy sophomore Sally Oliver did a heart screening back when she was in seventh grade and discovered she had Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, or WPW

  • Stacy Lynn Cartechine, heart screening director of Who We Play For, urge parents to get their kids screened after losing her son to sudden cardiac arrest in December 2021

  • The first Who We Play For National Youth Heart Screening Day is Saturday, Feb 1 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Brevard County Department of Health in Viera. It’s free for ages 10-22

Sally Oliver is a typical teen — a sophomore involved in sports and clubs at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne.

Lacrosse, the FCA and Bible study keep her busy when she’s not in class.

Back when she was entering seventh grade, she was trying out for the AAU basketball team. A heart screening was required, but she and her mom weren’t concerned.

“We thought everything was fine, so we almost didn’t do it, but we went ahead and did it, and they flagged me for WPW, and I ended up getting an ablation for the procedure," Sally said.

WPW, or Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome is a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast for long periods of time.

An ablation is a treatment for irregular heart rhythms.

Sally, thanks to it being detected by the screening, made a full recovery.

“I think it’s something every person should do once or twice in their life,” she said.

Sally’s mom, Lizzy, said she was originally on the fence about doing a screening.

“She had been playing sports fine with no complaints, no issues, no symptoms her whole life — maybe a waste of time — it wasn’t very expensive, but I didn’t want to take the time to do it if was unnecessary. But thank God we did,” Lizzy said.

Stacy Lynn Cartechine, heart screening director of Who We Play For, lost her 21-year-old son, Alex in December 2021.

“One of our mission statements is, 'For every kid who never had the opportunity.' My son never had the opportunity, but these kids do,” she said.

Alex was perfectly healthy on the outside, but one day, he came home from work, took a shower, and later dropped and died of sudden cardiac arrest.

The family later found out Alex had a condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Since then, Cartechine's mission through Who We Play For is to urge parents to get their kids, not just athletes, screened.

“We don’t want parents to think, 'Well, my kid looks perfectly healthy,' because it’s not something you can see from the outside,” Cartechine said.

According to NIH, 23,000 kids in the U.S. under 18 suffer sudden cardiac arrest each year. One in 300 children have an undetected heart condition, and 80% experience no symptoms before an event.

“We want to make sure every kid gets checked,” said Cartechine.

Now, Sally is a screener herself and can’t stress enough for all kids like her to just do it.

“This just needs to happen,” she said.

The first Who We Play For National Youth Heart Screening Day is Saturday, Feb 1 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Brevard County Department of Health in Viera. It’s free for ages 10-22.