Bike Trip for Tommy's Heart

THE STORY
In 2011, Thomas Smith, one of my best friends from middle school and high school passed away from an undiagnosed enlarged heart. He was 17 years old.

According to the American Heart Association, 2,000 under 25 years of age will die every year due to Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Having an automated external defibrillator, or AED, is not always enough. Within minutes, a person who has suffered SCA will die, unless treated immediately. “For every minute that elapses after sudden cardiac arrest, the chances of survival diminish 10 percent,” according to Medtronic.

This is a disease that changes the fate of too many families, and most of the time could be caught by an electrocardiogram (EKG), or heart screening.

The purpose of this ride is to raise money for the Thomas Smith Memorial Foundation, a foundation started by his family, to fund all heart screenings during mandatory health physicals for school athletics. Even professional and collegiate athletes, such as Ronny Turiaf or Isaiah Austin, potentially could have faced the same fate as Tom Smith if an EKG had not caught irregularities with their heart. Turiaf went on to play numerous years in the NBA, while Austin had to give up his playing career just days prior to the NBA draft.

Through this bike ride, we want to raise at least $25,000 for Tommy’s Heart and raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in young people.

You can find the Thomas Smith Memorial Foundation here: TommysHeart.org

Follow me on Twitter  and Facebook as my journey continues. Read my blog at BikeForTommysHeart.com