Heart of a Legend Foundation is a non profit organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. We provide FREE diagnostic heart screens to former professional athletes (NFL, NBA) due to the lack of testing that is provided for them before, during and after the game. These tests are also performed on high school and college athletes to bring the awareness of sudden cardiac death, arrhythmias and cardiac abnormalities (ie: Englarged heart, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy HCM). With these tests not being done on routine basis during physicals we are missing fatal heart issues. The testing includes an EKG which records the electrical activity in the heart, an echocardiogram to view the heart by ultrasound and looking at the overall mechanical function, blood flow, valves and the thickness of the walls of the heart.
The number of sudden cardiac deaths that were reported in the US in 2011 under the age of 45 were 281. By bringing more awareness and including these tests, we can prevent a great deal of deaths or if anything we can at least get the peace of mind.
