Healthy and athletic throughout his childhood, Ricky had never shown any signs of heart problems until the end of his sophomore year in high school. While undergoing a physical for participation in sports, the school nurse noticed that the 16-year-old’s blood pressure was unusually high. The nurse told Ricky that he could continue on with the sports program but advised him to follow up with his primary care physician. Following a few tests, his doctor decided to place him on high blood pressure medicine, which didn’t set well with his parents.

"The reason being is that my husband’s father died at the age of 41 of a massive heart attack," Mrs. Trietley said. "So I told the doctor I didn’t think this is right and we really needed to check his heart out."

Ricky was then referred to Olean cardiologist Dr. Henry Storch, who ordered numerous tests and monitoring for his heart. They followed up with appointments with an electrophysiologist in Buffalo, who checked the electrical activities of Ricky’s heart. Initially, doctors thought Ricky had benign ventricular tachycardia, a condition which causes non-life-threatening irregular heartbeats. His parents were relieved by the news and their 6-foot, 5-inch son was able to play basketball during his junior year with no incidents. His senior year didn’t go as well.