Shannon's Story

For me and my family, Thursday, July 18, 1996, started out like any other day, but what we didn’t know then was that our world was about to be shaken to its core. We had planned a party that afternoon to celebrate the 15th birthday of my oldest daughter, Shannon. We cleaned the house, baked a cake, and welcomed many of Shannon’s friends as they arrived to help us celebrate this special occasion.

After the festivities, we all piled into the van and headed off to the Baylor Pool for some swim time. The plan was to return home afterwards for a quiet evening at the house, but it was simply not to be. What we didn’t know that morning was that the day we had planned would be Shannon’s last. Who could have imagined that our Shannon would collapse and pass away from a cardiac arrest in the company of those who loved her so dearly? In the hours that followed, two things became crystal clear: Shannon was gone, and our lives would never be the same.

Later, we learned that my oldest son, Scott, was in the early stages of the same disease and would need a defibrillator implanted as soon as possible to ensure that he would not suffer the same fate. Unfortunately, heart disease had already stricken several other members of my family. In 1981, only two weeks after Shannon was born, I lost my father to a heart attack at the age of 46. My brother had a heart attack at 41 and, since then, has had several stents, a triple bypass, a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted. In addition, both of my sisters are being treated for various forms of heart disease. As a result of my experiences, I understand the importance of raising the money necessary to fund education and research programs so that we can make heart disease a very rare occurrence in the near future.