The Morrell Family has a long and tragic history of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Holly's involvement with cardiac screening is dedicated to the memory of her 6 family members, including her father, who lost their lives to this insidious condition. Three other family members are living with HCM and have Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs). Ironically, Holly was first diagnosed with HCM in 2002 after running a cardiac screening program for 3 years. She received an ICD in July, 2002.
Sudden Cardiac Death in the form of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) has stalked the Morrell family for three generations, claiming six lives and forever haunting those left behind.
The Morrell's legacy of loss began one day in 1956 when Chuck and his twin Gary were given heartbreaking news. Their 3 year-old sister Michelle had died in her sleep. Her young heart had simply stopped beating.
Mother, Virginia Morrell, would die of heart failure in 1963 at age 54. In 1975 Gary's son, Kyle, 12, collapsed and was left comatose from a sudden cardiac event and died two months later. The entire family was examined, and four were diagnosed with HCM: Chuck, Gary, and two of Gary's children, Desiree and Mitchell. All of them had, unknowingly --like Kyle-- been stalked by this deadly gene their entire lives.
With knowledge came medications. Unfortunately, the medical profession's understanding of this disease was minimal. Mitchell, 14, died less than a year later. Desiree , also at the age of 14, suffered sudden cardiac arrest, but survived, and today is a grown woman and mother. Unfortunately, her son, Tyler, inherited the gene and now has an implanted device designed to jump-start his heart should a sudden cardiac event occur. Today Tyler lives as active a life as any young boy his age.
Gary Morrell died as a result of HCM in 1991. Chuck Morrell received a new heart in 1995. Chuck's daughter, Holly left a long-term career in equestrian show jumping to devote her fulltime attention to the cause of saving lives from Sudden Cardiac Death. Just three years later she was diagnosed with HCM and received an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in July, 2002. Formerly the Executive Director of A Heart for Sports, from 1999 to 2007, she founded and is now the Executive Director of Heartfelt Cardiac Projects.
Gary Morrell's other daughters, Jackie and Gina are both free of HCM and have families of their own. Chuck Morrell also has a son, Eric, who is not affected with HCM. Eric and his wife gave birth to a son in the year 2000. The baby was named Kyle Mitchell in memory of Kyle and Mitchell Morrell.
Sadly, Chuck Morrell passed away 2/10/05, becoming the sixth member of the Morrell Family to die from HCM. He will always be remembered as the inspiration for Holly's cardiac screenings and continuing efforts. Together they spearheaded community screening efforts to spare other families the grief of losing loved ones to the preventable tragedy of Sudden Cardiac Death.
