In 2005, while pursuing her Master's degree in social work, Mary Beth Schewitz suddenly and tragically lost her 20-year old son, Max. He had fallen victim to an undiagnosed cardiac condition--one that could have been detected earlier with a simple EKG test.

"There are countless sad days after your child dies. You resolve just to put one foot in front of the other until night falls; then you cry yourself to sleep, a sleep plagued with dreams of longing and regret," Schewitz says. In fact, no one would blame Schewitz if her grief had paralyzed her and kept her from moving forward.

Life had others plans for her, however. She met with Dr. Joseph Marek, a Chicago cardiologist who had just piloted a school-wide EKG screening program to identify young adults at risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) from hidden and undiagnosed conditions.

"While it was too late for our son, we knew there were others just like him, living their lives unaware that they had a heart condition that could kill them. We knew from the moment we met with Dr. Marek that we would do all we could to bring EKG screening to young adults in our area," Schewitz told me. Just a year after her son's passing Schewitz created the Max Schewitz Foundation, which provides free EKG screenings to high school and college children. They have now tested over 43,000 students; 828 students had an abnormality that required further medical evaluation and 438 students received free echocardiograms from the Foundation.

What does Schewitz want people struggling with tragedy and hardship to know? "Resilience is a quality you're lucky to find you possess just when you need it most."

Health, Heart Health, Children with Disabilities, Parenting, Children, Foundations Authors,