Haverford PA - Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the number one killer among student athletes and takes the lives of thousands of children each year.  For parents Darren and Phyllis Sudman that harsh reality became all too clear with the death of their son Simon in 2004.

"Today would have been my son’s 11th birthday," said Darren Sudman co-founder of Simon’s Fund. “Our son Simon died in his sleep of a heart arrhythmia, he was only three-months old,”

“We had no idea, we took him home from the hospital, he seemed perfectly healthy we put him down for a nap and he never woke up.” said Sudman.

Heart arrhythmia is responsible for 15 percent of all SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) deaths.

“Our doctor told us, ‘Healthy babies just don’t die’, and suggested that we get our hearts checked. We did, and found out that my wife had a congenital heart defect, the same heart arrhythmia that evidently went undetected in Simon.”

After her diagnosis, the Sudman’s started Simon’s Fund which provides free heart screenings for all students ages 12-19.

“We do not want another community to be life-altered by tragedy like ours was, sudden cardiac arrest can be prevented through early detection, education and awareness,” said Sudman.

This past Saturday, Simon’s Fund hosted a free heart screening for  Inter-AC students at The Haverford School. The screenings, provided mostly by volunteer doctors and medical technicians, consisted of a medical history form, a physical exam, electrocardiogram (EKG) and an echocardiogram (Echo). 

Since its inception in 2005, Simon’s Fund has help provide free heart screenings for close to 12 thousand students and changed the lives of about 100 children who have been treated for a discovered heart condition. It has also informed millions of parents throughout the country that sudden cardiac arrest is not just an adult condition.

On May 30, 2012, Governor Tom Corbett signed into law The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act (Act 59) making Pennsylvania the first state in the country to protect students from SCA.

Thanks to Simon’s Fund, nine more states have enacted Act 59 and two more have adopted provisions of the law.

Earlier this year, the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHA) added SCA education to its platform. Now more than 1.5 million coaches around the county have access to life-saving information provided by Simon's Fund. 

“We get tested for everything else," said Sudman. "A heart is fragile. Our ultimate goal is to add EKG’s as the standard of care during a child’s physical exam."

The next free heart screening will be held on November 7th at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in honor of student and football player Ryan Gillyard, who passed away from SCA earlier this year.

For more information about Simon’s Fund and Sudden Cardiac Arrest  go to www.simonsfund.org.