SimonFund? Sudden cardiac arrest? A simple Test that can save my kids life.. A friend told me about Darren, Phyllis, and their son Simon Sudman. I was moved by the Sudmans lives. She asked if I would mind writing a blog post about the importance of Simon’s story. I said of course, Then I asked her for one better, if they could tell Simon’s story to me as a parent… So I can share it with you as a parent. I would like to welcome my guest bloggers Darren & Phyllis Sudman two amazing parents saving others children.
Guest Blogger: Darren & Phyllis Sudman
At the time, Britax was the best car seat; Combi, the best lightweight stroller; Dr. Brown’s, the best bottles. By best, I also mean safest. However, none of that mattered because Simon only got to use them for 96 days.
Our son, Simon Brach Sudman was born on October 21, 2004 with near perfect Apgar scores. He sailed through his well baby checks. He smiled for the first time in December. He died on January 24, 2004 at three months of age. He was napping and didn’t wake up. All the books told us what he should be doing in utero. They told us about car safety and gas bubbles. They never mentioned sudden cardiac arrest. We were prepared to protect our child . . . so we thought.
Sudden cardiac arrest takes the lives of thousands of children every year. It can be a sleeping baby (15% of all unexplained sudden infant deaths). It can be a recreational swimmer (unexplained drowning). It can be a competitive athlete. It can be a good driver (unexplained car crash). We learned all of this after Simon died. We want you to learn about it now, because the most important two things we learned were: sudden cardiac arrest in children is not rare; and it can be prevented close to 90% of the time with a simple, non-invasive test, an ECG/EKG. We screen our kids’ eyes and ears, but we neglect to screen their most vital organ.
We created Simon’s Fund to raise awareness about the conditions that lead to sudden cardiac arrest and death in kids. In seven years, we have conducted free screenings for over a dozen schools and checked almost 4,000 hearts. We have helped 36 kids discover an undetected, potentially fatal heart condition. You can learn about some of them at www.simonsfund.org. Based on our screenings and the screenings of similar organizations, one out of every 100 kids has an undetected heart condition. That’s our 1%. Please get your kids screened and pass the word along.
Want to read more about the test Please visit www.simonsfund.org.
Also I want to link up to Jessica Found the Marbles her boys recently had the test done by SimonsFund.
