If you have a story about you, your family, friend or partner you would like to share with others who might read this website please submit it to the CIDG coordinator, and we will arrange to post it on the site for you. Email to jackiec@adhb.govt.nz.

AJ

Christmas 2005 was fun. We have always enjoyed the day as family fun time, as the children got older, token gifts..usually quirky, was the way to go.  A.J loved it as he did birthdays. 

We were not to know then that 2 days later, our fit and healthy, almost fitness fanatic son....his diet consisted of things that made me shiver..would collapse and die regardless of paramedic help.

As we layed with A.J on the floor in total grief, confusion and stunned that this fit and healthy 22 year old gorgeous son of ours would no longer be with us, I made a silent promise to him.  I Will Find Out what has happened to you, this he would want me to do, and to prevent it happening to other members of his family, most importantly his sisters and nieces and nephews, Liz.

Jimmy and Crissy Brackett

Having seizures in our family was very common. Most family members including Jimmy & Crissy, we were treated for epilepsy. On April 15, 2000, Jimmy had a seizure in his sleep and died leaving behind a wife [Denise] and a two year old daughter [ Alexis].  Our Crissy had a daughter [Jessica] and when the baby was only eight months old, on July 25, 2002, Crissy had a seizure and died in her sleep, just like her brother.  As a mother, I knew there was something the doctors weren’t finding. It was only ten months after my daughter’s death my mother was taken to the hospital for what we thought was a panic attack. That was when I was told she had Long QT Syndrome.  Then the doctor began explaining the symptoms and the missing pieces to this puzzle just fell into place. Granddaughters, several family members and I have Long QT.

Our story has been featured in ten newspaper articles and an article in the Southside magazine.  Plus, several TV interviews were included on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates and several local Indiana channels with one radio broadcast. We plan to start a foundation in Jimmy & Crissy’s Memory and put together the first ever Heart Screening for Indiana Schools. 

”One day I hope to be able to put all my efforts towards saving young adults and children from SCA .  If I can spare someone from my pain, I will. You never recover; you just learn to cope and get through the days, I have never felt such pain.

Jackie Renfrow (Jimmy & Crissy’s Mom)

www.jimmyandcrissy.embarqspace.com

We save lives in Indiana and beyond!