BRADENTON – Former Bradenton resident Amber Young says her 13-year-old daughter Kiley took a nap she’d never wake up from.
“We were on our way to spring break in North Carolina,” Young said. “We were driving, we stopped at a gas station so we could take a break, take a quick little cat nap, and she was, what we thought was sleeping.”
Until they couldn’t wake her up.
“Her face was kind of stoned,so to speak, and she had blue lips,” Young said.
She was rushed to the hospital, but Kiley was already gone, a healthy teen athlete.
“I don’t think I felt anything to be honest with you, I didn’t know how to feel,” Young said.
All she knew was she needed answers. Months later an autopsy revealed her cause of death was myocarditis, inflammation of the middle layer of the heart wall from a virus nobody knew Kiley had.
“I said, ‘That can’t be, she wasn’t sick,'” Young said.
Doctors still don’t know what virus caused it. Amber thought if this could happen to Kiley, she needed to get her other kids checked. She found out both had heart issues.
“It’s crazy that it took her passing for me to find this out about my boys,” she said.
Kiley left behind countless friends and a mom who never wants other parents to feel this heartbreak.
“I miss her smile; I miss her personality,” Young said.
Young helped start a free heart screening clinic every February for student athletes ages 12-18. The last one this month is this Saturday, February 29th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Heritage Harbour Health Care Center in Bradenton. To schedule an appointment call (941) 917-1190.
