Sports Commentary: Loss Leads Gomes to Labor of Love
December 1, 2007, AOL
Sean Jensen
They are an unlikely couple, one a 6-foot-7, 25-year-old NBA player, the other a 5-foot-4, 40-something teacher turned activist.
But Minnesota Timberwolves forward Ryan Gomes and Rachel Moyer are united by a common goal: to honor the legacy of someone they lost to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). In December 2000, Moyer lost her 15-year-old son to SCA. In May 2005, Gomes lost his friend and former AAU teammate, Stanley Myers, to SCA.
These aren't isolated incidents.
According to the American Heart Association, 250,000 people die every year from SCA, which is why Gomes and Moyer, co-founder of Parent Heart Watch, have teamed up to prevent others from experiencing their grief.
During this basketball season, their two foundations are partnering with Cardiac Science Corporation to donate 12 defibrillators at schools and recreation centers in various NBA cities. The donations are a part of the "Let the Beat Go On" Awareness Tour, and the next stop is tonight in Dallas, where the Mavs Foundation has offered to purchase another defibrillator to donate in the community.
"My goal is just to bring awareness out, and then hopefully let this grow," Gomes said. "We do 12 this year. But then maybe do 18 or more next year."
A second-round pick of the Boston Celtics in 2005, Gomes yearned to start a foundation, and he was inspired by several conversations with his AAU coach Wayne Simone, who informed him of the sudden death of Myers, a basketball player at Morgan State University. Simone also told Gomes of a student passing out on a basketball court in California.
"This was something that I could get my hands on, and bring awareness to," Gomes said, "because I'm a professional athlete."
Gomes started out with local events, but he longed to take his foundation national. Then he heard Moyer's story.
Moyer's family was at East Stroudsburg North High School in Pennsylvania, for her son's basketball game on Dec. 2, 2000. Gregory was 6-foot-3, 220 pounds. He played three sports a year, never missed a day of school and had a clean bill of health. He was nervous before the game, but, as he walked past his family at halftime, he had a pleasant look on his face.
"Like, 'Hey, I had a pretty good half,' " Rachel recalled.
Less than a minute later, though, Rachel was called into the locker room. Her son was unconscious, and he wasn't breathing. A doctor and three nurses were on hand, but none of them knew what to do, Rachel said.
"It was awful."
The first ambulance arrived after 35 minutes but didn't have a defibrillator. The second arrived 10 minutes later and revived him, but couldn't keep Gregory's heart beating.
Rachel would later learn that Gregory had an enlarged heart, with the wall thicker than normal, and his chances of survival would have been higher if the health professionals knew how to react to SCA and had access to a defibrillator. For every minute that passes without defibrillation, a victim's chances of survival decrease 10 percent, according to Parent Health Watch.
But the $70 million new school did not have a $1,500 defibrillator.
Outraged by her son's death, Rachel devoted herself to implement broad changes.
"Remarkably, we have defibrillators in our prisons, but not in our schools," Rachel said.
Rachel co-founded Parent Health Watch, a network of 170 families in 43 states who have lost children to SCA or have children at risk for SCA. She advocates for the inclusion of defibrillators in every school and education of how to use the devices, especially by nurses.
"People know the names of some of these celebrities, or the latest electronic game, but when you say AED, they say, 'What? You mean MSG?'
We need to do more to have defibrillators at all public places, and at schools."
Moyer said Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training is easy enough to teach even third- and fourth-graders, and she added that 40 adults and 15 children have been saved because of AEDs in public places in the state of New York.
"For a course, it's three hours," Moyer said. "I taught special ed, and I taught (the students) how to use it. They could probably put electrodes on people faster than some EMTs."
Gomes made the connection with Cardiac Science Corporation, one of the global industry leaders in diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology devices and systems. In their short partnership - they made it official in July - Moyer has been impressed with Gomes' passion and spirit, qualities that remind her of someone else.
"One thing that sticks out, she says I remind her of her son," Gomes said. "Whenever I see her, she puts a smile on my face. I know the things she has gone through with her son, and it shows on her face how much she cares about helping other people."
Moyer marveled at how genuine Gomes is in interacting with parents who have lost children to SCA.
"He is just a kind-hearted person," Moyer said. "He's very committed to what he is doing, and he's doing it for all the right reasons, and his presence has made a significant difference.
"Together, we'll raise that awareness, and get better and better at how we empower people."
Sean Jensen can be reached at nothinbutlovefor@aol.com. To learn more about about the foundations, go to www.parentheartwatch.org.
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