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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Long Island Board of Realtors® Bring Echocardiogram Screening Program to
Long Beach School District
December 2008
- West Babylon, NY –The Long Island Board of Realtors
(LIBOR) has provided funding and support to the Long Beach School District to offer
young athletes echocardiogram screenings in an effort to detect symptoms
related to idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, a condition
that has been linked in the untimely deaths of teen athletes. According
to pediatric and cardiology experts, one of the causes of sudden death
in young athletes is HCM - hypertropic cardio myopathy, an abnormality
of the left ventricle of the heart chamber, causing enlargement which
closes off the septum wall, not permitting adequate blood flow to the
heart. The more athletes vigorously exercise, the quicker the
closure and the higher risk for complications including death.
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Photo Caption:
Pictured from left
to right (back) are Dr. Fredrick Bierman, MD, Schneider Children’s
Hospital's Chairman of Pediatrics; Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg;
Neil Sterrer, LIBOR PR Committee Member; County Legislator Denise
Ford; Patrick Gallagher, School Board President. (Front)
Susan Helsinger; Councilwoman Denise Tangney and Barbara Young,
School District Nurse Liaison. |
Long Island Realtor, Susan Gruen Helsinger lost her 14 year old son,
Jason to this undiagnosed condition 20 years ago. She has since
founded The Jason F. Gruen Research Foundation, which is dedicated to
finding a cure for idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. In
the spring of 2007, the Foundation’s efforts culminated in a unique
project to offer echocardiograms to 8th grade students interested in
participating in sports programs within in the Bellmore-Merrick Central
School District. Helsinger worked with State Senator Charles J.
Fuschillo, Jr. (R-North Merrick) to secure a special legislative grant
to support the project. Along with the services of a Pediatric
Cardiologist from Schneider’s Children Hospital, onsite echocardiogram
screenings were performed. Since then, over 600 children have
been screened with more than 20 detected abnormalities, and all were
treated. This pilot program has received much attention and many
awards. Bellmore-Merrick was the first public school district in
America to offer this service.
“I’m so grateful to the Long Beach School District for their
willingness to offer electrocardiogram screenings to student athletes
in an effort to prevent any child from dying from this undetected condition.
Offering screenings to detect hypertropic cardio myopathy in our schools
is one way to accomplish this,” Helsinger said.
The “We’re More Than Realtors® campaign was created by
the LIBOR Public Relations Committee and raises the public’s awareness
about Realtors® and their philanthropic efforts within their communities.
LIBOR is a 25,000 member not-for-profit trade association that serves real
estate professionals throughout Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties.
# # #
Press Release Contact:
Christina DeFalco
Public Relations and Communications Specialist
631-661-4800 Ext. 358
LIBOR is a non-profit trade association consisting of more than 25,000 real estate professionals. LIBOR is the largest local Realtor® Board in the Country with ten Chapters that cover the North Shore, South Shore and Central areas of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties.
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