Cardiac screenings at West Aurora
West Aurora High School physical education teacher Meghan Hill hopes to reach her goal of screening 2,000 high school students for signs of heart problems. The two-day process started Thursday and continues Friday.
Each student will receive an electrocardiogram screening as part of the Young Hearts for Life program, which conducts tests at about 30 area high schools. The last time West Aurora screened students, doctors found abnormalities in the ECGs for 18 students.
Hill is motivated by a desire to help others and prevent a tragedy. She’s also organizing the tests as a way to honor the memory of her cousin, Kathryn Bender, a Naperville North High School student who died seven years ago from a heart disease called QT syndrome. Bender’s heart stopped just before she was going to dance at Neuqua Valley High School.