The Kittim N. Sherrod Foundation: Tackling Cardiac Risk in High Schools
It’s been a few months since we checked in with our friends at the Kittim N. Sherrod Foundation, but the team has been busily advocating all through the summer for research and awareness to help prevent sudden cardiac death. Recently, they’ve partnered with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a NJ-based charity inspired by the life of a young girl with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, to present a state-of-the-art, bilingual, portable automated external defibrillator (AED) to the Shamrocks Pop Warner football and cheerleading program in North Edison, NJ. The donation also covers the cost of a maintenance plan, defibrillator pads, a portable carrying case, an AED-ready kit, and free AED/CPR certification to adult members of the Shamrocks program — all of which can quickly compound into high expenses.
The donation was made in loving memory of Kittim Sherrod, a former Edison High School football star who collapsed and died at the age of 17 during a training run with the high school’s track and field team. Before moving to South Edison, Sherrod had lived less than a quarter mile from the North Edison Shamrocks field, and his uncle, Kenneth Andrews, had once played for the Shamrocks. The donation was also made in memory of Sean Fisher, a 13-year-old who collapsed and died on a New Jersey football field in 2008 after going into sudden cardiac arrest. Sherrod and Fisher were both living with undetected heart defects.
“It’s really hard to find the words,” said Sherrod’s grandmother, Razeenah Walker, president of the Kittim N. Sherrod Foundation. “For me, it comes full circle. We lived on this side of Edison, and who would ever think this day would come where we would be able and honored to give this gift to these youth. We are just very happy that we were able to partner up with The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, as well. It’s just wonderful that we are making a difference to save a life, one step at a time.”
New Jersey state law requires all K through 12 schools to have an AED near each gymnasium and athletic field, as well as an emergency response plan for sudden cardiac arrest. However, no legislation of this kind exists for youth leagues. Despite introduction of a bill back in 2014 that would have required NJ youth sports leagues to have AEDs and people trained to use them at every event and practice, the proposed law stalled over concern that the multimillion dollar cost would increase registration fees and discourage would-be coaches from volunteering, due to additional training requirements.
Dr. Nidhi Kumar, Medical Director of Women’s Health at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, joined in the presentation of the AED donation and said of the event, “it’s really a way to translate loss into life because both Kittim and Sean died as athletes on the field. It was a tragedy that affected thousands of people that day and continues to. Perhaps it’s work like this that makes the loss of those athletes have some meaning beyond just utter tragedy.”
The incidence rate of sudden cardiac death is generally estimated around 1 in 200,000 athletes nationwide, but Dr. Kumar said many experts believe the incidence is even greater. “I know there’s been a huge push to have EKG and echocardiograms mandated as screening tools, but the reality is the healthcare dollars won’t support that legislation to ever pass. In my opinion, the other thing is that (cardiac screenings) may give people a false sense of security because there are athletes that have cardiac issues that may not be detected by those screening tools.”
In many instances, the only way to detect presence of a life-altering cardiovascular condition is via genetic testing. Even when other methods are used to successfully identify an anomaly, genetic testing is a powerful confirmatory tool to strengthen diagnosis. When a genetic predisposition isn’t observed before a cardiac event, the individual may have no indication that they are at risk, and without prevention, the next most important factor in survival becomes emergency response. “The risk of mortality from a sudden cardiac arrest increases 10 percent every minute without defibrillation,” Dr. Kumar said, “so the thought is that if we train coaches to be first responders, we can address the issue immediately where a coach is in a position to react, respond, and save a life.” Now, the Shamrocks have a new and powerful safety precaution in place to protect them, along with helmets and pads.
