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Houston-area school district receives life-saving gift
FOX 26 Reporter Damali Keith explains what the gift is and why the donation was made.
ALIEF, Texas - It's Friday night lights here in Houston and over in Alief, a Crosby mom who lost her son to sudden cardiac arrest is giving a gift to keep other parents from experiencing the same heartbreak. It's happening at Crump Stadium at halftime at Alief ISD's Southwest Classic Football game.
This is certainly a big win for the district.
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A high school senior who was headed to college on a football scholarship is behind the really good gift being given on the gridiron in Alief ISD. The Community Volunteer Fire Department is giving $20,000 in ECG machines in honor of Cody Stephens, who just three weeks from high school graduation died in 2012 of sudden cardiac arrest.
"Cody was healthy and happy and looked like he had his whole life ahead of him, and he laid down and died. Took a nap, fell asleep, and never woke up and that's the first introduction I had to cardiac arrest," explains Cody's mom, Melody Stephens.
The fire department is donating six ECG machines, which are designed to detect heart issues before tragedy strikes.
"We get called after the fact, and we do everything we can. But here's an opportunity for us to take it a step further and put these machines in the schools and be proactive rather than reactive," explains Community Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Samantha Smith.
The machines are expected to make a huge difference. How many times have you heard of student athletes dropping dead from sudden cardiac arrest? Too many, right?
"This is life or death truly. It's the difference between a student living their life, being able to grow old or potentially passing away from a hidden heart defect. The past school year we've had six sudden cardiac arrests in the greater Houston area. Three of them passed away and all were in high school or middle school," says Alahna Rojas, the Heart Screening Director with the Cody Stephens Foundation.
"Anyone with a heart can suffer cardiac arrest. Older people usually have heart attacks. A heart attack is like a plumbing problem. The heart is still pumping blood, but there's a clogged pipe somewhere. That's why when somebody has a heart attack...often they can say, 'hey, I don't feel good, call 911. I need help.' With cardiac arrest, it's an electrical problem. So, the pump is pumping blood and it short circuits. So, blood stops going to your brain and the brain shuts everything down. So, within seconds, you're unconscious," says Melody Stephens, who says they have since learned an ECG may have made a huge difference for Cody.
"Right, because the best doctor on a good day with a stethoscope cannot hear all the conditions that cause heart conditions, that cause sudden cardiac arrest. Cody had his whole life ahead of him. I see his friends now as they're getting older and having families and careers and stuff, and I always wonder what would Cody be doing now if he would have lived."
"If we can detect just one, just one kid and prevent them from falling to the fate that Cody did, then we're doing what we need to do," said Smith.
"I think this will make a big difference. I think it will give piece of mind to parents. We plan to use our trainers and our nurses to test the students during school hours and the Cody Stephens Foundation has a Cardiologist who will read the tests," explains Alief ISD Director of Athletics Marla Brumfield Lewis.
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Stephens, a mom still mourning the loss of her son, is doing this to keep others from the same pain.
"That hurt and that loss is always with me. We're doing this because I didn't know Cody had a condition and that's part of the problem, the awareness. People don't know this is one of the number one causes of death in young people. All of the conditions that cause cardiac arrest are manageable or treatable if you know about them. If you don't know about them, then death could be the first symptom," Stephens explains.
Kids in Alief ISD will now be able to receive ECG's either for $10 or for free.
In addition to the big football game halftime donation, the fire department and the Cody Stephens Foundation non-profit group will be at Typhoon Texas on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. giving free heart screenings to the first 100 kids.