This Saturday, free “Living for Zachary” heart screenings will be offered at the Lake Highlands Family YMCA for young people aged 12-22 living within RISD boundaries.

Zachary was an active Plano teen who loved baseball, football and fishing with his Grandpa. He collapsed in 2009 and died from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during football practice. The noninvasive screening named for him and provided by officials from Baylor Scott & White includes electrocardiogram, limited 2-D echocardiogram, blood pressure screening, SCA risk health questionnaire and a screening review by board-certified cardiologists.

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Online appointments may be made here. More testing dates at other locations are also available.

Lake Highlands neighbor Virginia Krejci knows about the benefits of such testing. Her son, Joe, collapsed during track class at Lake Highlands Junior High in 2017. Coach Craig Titsworth sent his fastest runners, and nurse Annie Young returned with the school’s automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock Joe’s heart back into rhythm. Three years later, Virginia and husband, Mike, left Joe’s Winter Formal photo opp and went to dinner on Greenville Avenue. Mike stepped away for a moment, and Virginia collapsed in a heap. Paramedics jump-started her heart, also with an AED.

The Living for Zachary heart screening will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 24. The LH YMCA is at 8920 Stults Road at Greenville Ave.