On September 10, 2008 at 3:07 pm my late wife Shawn Marie passed away from a previously undetected heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia (ARVD). In short ARVD is a genetic heart condition that causes the right ventricle of the heart to turn to fatty tissue over time and eventually lead to cardiac arrest in perfectly normal, healthy individuals – usually with little to no warning. In Shawn Marie’s case it led to her passing at the age of 35. Were there signs or symptoms of ARVD – sure there were, but all very minor and all linked together after her passing.
Shawn Marie was full of life. She had a love for kids and animals. Her love for animals led to us having 3 dogs and would have been more but I told her the poop picking responsibilities would fall to her if we got anymore dogs. Luckily that was enough to dissuade her. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up the answer was simple – a mom. Fate was such that we were having difficulty having kids – after she passed it became clear why our “plan” was not for us to have kids. The other thing with Shawn was that once you were her friend, you were her friend for life and she would do anything for you.
One of the things we both loved was going to baseball games. When we lived in West Virginia we had Sunday season tickets to the Orioles – the main reason being 3 Yankee games were part of the package. Shawn loved the Yankees – one of our dogs was named Jeter.
After Shawn passed the everyday routine of getting up and going to work was easy, the not so easy times were my free times. With Shawn – we always filled our spare time with fun stuff. I found I was having a hard time finding stuff to look forward to – my life was just a routine. Then Shawn’s cousin Jack gave me the idea to go to all the MLB ballparks in one season. This would give me stuff to look forward to while learning how to live life again. During the 2009 baseball season I accomplished the feat of getting to all 30 ballparks. I knew the travel and seeing the country would be fun – of course going to the different ballparks would be great and the sense of accomplishment was what I needed. What I didn’t expect was to meet so many wonderful people along the way that have become lifelong friends who also have been touched and inspired by hearing my story.
As the Quest to get to all 30 ballparks was winding down in 2009 I was asked over and over about what’s next? I really didn’t have an answer. Then on August 21, 2009 – my official Fenway game which was ballpark #28, my story was picked up by a few local news stations in Boston and aired that night. Of the many nice emails I received after the broadcast the one that stuck out to me was from Laura Wall who works for the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome Foundation. Laura told me all about SADS and even though ARVD is not technically a SADS disease – its symptoms and dire consequences mirror one another.
My life over the 2009 summer was defined by the Quest which was all about me and my recovery. Then the 2010 MLB baseball schedule came out and for fun I worked up a schedule to get to all 30 again in 2010 which I accomplished and became only the 2nd person ever to get to all 30 MLB ballparks two seasons in a row. During the 2010 season we were able to raise over $22,000 for the SADS Foundation from great folks like yourself as well as raise awareness that hopefully saved a life.
I actually got to 31 ballparks in 2010, the 31st being the AAA ballpark of the Salt Lake Bees in Salt Lake City, home of the SADS Foundation. The Bees were great and donated over 50 tickets for SADS families to join us at the game. A table was set up on the main concourse of the ballpark with SADS related material handed out to folks as they walked around the park. We also, thru the great folks at Cardiac Science, donated an AED to the ballpark. And I got to throw out the first pitch, which was a strike and the catcher told me I really popped his mitt.
This summer I am teaming up with my friends from the SADS Foundation again with the "Where's Bob?" campaign to continue our work of spreading awareness of SADS as well as raise some more money for this most worthy cause. This summer we are focusing on quality, not quantity and teaming up with MLB teams in various cities to host special events at the ballparks. Our goal is to repeat the awesome night we had at the Salt Lake Bees game, only this time at MLB ballparks like Tropicana Field in Tampa, Citifield in New York and Yankee Stadium, yes, Yankee Stadium! Listed below are links to my website, my facebook fan page as well as the events page on SADS.org. You can find more information regarding our schedule on these sites.
The thing with SADS is it affects mostly young adults and kids. I have spent countless hours reading the testimonials on SADS.org from the families of kids who passed away from SADS. The thing with SADS is that the deaths can be prevented with awareness. The problem with SADS as with ARVD is that the symptoms are sometimes minor and many times the first symptom is death – I know all too well about that one
In closing I have never considered myself a “Cause” type of person. I donate to charities but like most people it’s just spare change into a bucket. When I lost Shawn I spent months saying “what if” but you can’t “what if” the past. By working with the SADS Foundation on the 'Where's Bob?" campaign, I am able to “what if” the future all in the memory of my late wife – Shawn Marie. If my Quest saves just one life, than there will be one less family going thru what so many of us who are tragically linked thru these diseases have and continue to.
All the best,
Bob
http://www.30ballparks-in-1season.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/All-30-ballparks-a-dream/118477151521659
http://www.sads.org/Calendar