Louisville heart screenings for high school athletes

Alexis Loveless is just getting started.

Her goal after suffering a sudden cardiac event at age 13 was to start small: Find a way to provide heart screenings for her teammates and classmates.

"Baby steps," the now 16-year-old dancer said in June.

One in 300 children have an undetected heart condition, and sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in high school athletes. Loveless' dream beyond that goal is to provide heart screenings to kids across Jefferson County, then maybe across the state.

Because of her pertinacity, her high school, Sacred Heart Academy, is holding a school-based heart screening on Sept. 8 from 2:30 to 5 p.m., as well as a heart screening open to the public on Sept. 9.

"Get screened because of the what if," Loveless said, "because of the possibility that something could happen."

"We felt like opening up the heart screening to the community would be just a wonderful service outreach that is so important and near and dear to our hearts, especially after Alexis Loveless’ experience," said Jennifer Love, Sacred Heart Academy's dean of students. "We want any student or child to have the ability to have a screening. The more information we give to our community and can provide as a service to them, the better for those around us."

Loveless discovered her own heart condition in seventh grade, while attending a pep rally. Through her recovery, it's been a goal to help normal children like her receive a heart screening, a non-invasive review of the makeup of the heart.

"I don’t look like someone who is sick or has heart disease," she told the Courier Journal in June.

Sacred Heart and Loveless are teaming up with the Who We Play For Foundation to provide heart screenings for $20. The test normally costs $149.

"It’s a noninvasive, 5- to 10-minute test," said Ralph Maccarone, the chairman of the Foundation's board of directors. "It takes longer to put the stickers on the kid's chest than to actually do the test."

Who We Play For was established following the 2007 death of Rafe Maccarone, a high school athlete who collapsed during soccer practice from an undetected heart condition. Rafe died the next day.

"The driving factor is the unknown," said Ralph Maccarone, Rafe's father. "Why not invest in your child $20 to get a screening done to know that the potential for sudden cardiac arrest may or may not be there?

"For me, it’s a no-brainer. If I had known what I know now, I would have been first in line to have our son checked and make sure that everything was OK."

If anything is found, the foundation and Alexis' mom, Meredith, a doctor, have worked with the University of Louisville to connect patients with the appropriate care.

Sudden cardiac arrest has been in the news a lot this year - from NFL player Damar Hamlin to college basketball player Bronny James - but those who have lost loved ones know those aren't rare events.

"For Alexis to see what happened to her and decide to make a difference is huge," Ralph Maccarone said.

In April, the Courier Journal published a monthslong investigation into sudden death in sports, that found that while it's an eye-opening experience for many, the scenario has played out hundreds of times on high school sidelines nationwide.

Those deaths include Matthew Mangine Jr., a 16-year-old northern Kentucky soccer player who collapsed and died in June 2020 during conditioning.

The Matthew Mangine Jr. "One Shot" Foundation will be part of the heart screening, providing a free 10-minute CPR training.

"It happens more in kids than you think, but once you put a face to it and you can see someone still thriving in life, despite their medical past, then it really just helps you realize that this is a real problem," Loveless said. "But it also can be helped."

Loveless hopes the heart screening will become an annual public event, and she's thinking out loud: "Why isn't this part of health physicals? I know it's a big financial issue, but physicals are for middle and high schoolers ..."

Maybe that's where the next baby steps lead.

When: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9

Where: Sacred Heart Academy (cafeteria), 3175 Lexington Road

Cost: $20

Info: Register in person or online at whoweplayfor.org/kentucky-jefferson. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise sports reporter, with a focus on the health and safety of athletes. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her for updates on Twitter at @stephkuzy.