Fund in Memory of Gray Solana

In the fall of 1992, in the sleepy coastal town of Beaufort, SC, Graham Solana went to the pediatrician for a 6-month ultrasound on the baby boy growing inside of her. The tech picked up on something she didn’t like…a heart rate that was jumping around from 140 beats per minute to 200. It would skip from 140 to 180, then drop back to 150, then jump up again. The doctor got involved, and it was decided that he would do something unusual when the baby was to be born in 3 months…hook him up for an ECG.

When baby Joe was born, leads were attached, and the little boy was in deep distress. He had a QT interval of 620, and the fibrillation and Torsades he was going through caused his ECG to look more like a lie detector test given to a career criminal. He was immediately flown to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The doctor on call was one of the few people in the world at the time who knew anything about LQTS, and his name was Paul Gillette. Knowing exactly what to do to stabilize little Joe, Dr. Gillette started him on Beta Blockers, and three weeks later the young family walked out of the hospital with no problems.

Fast forward 21 years. The Solana’s had three more kids, with one more case of LQTS and two kids without it. A genetic test was done on the family to determine what was going on, and it was found that Joe (oldest) and Gray (younger brother) had LQTS type 3. This is a sodium channel anomaly which is more rare and unpredictable than types 1 and 2. Joe and Gray had never had a fainting spell, and had lived fairly normal lives for boys with LQTS. Joe never participated with any competitive team sports, but was a pretty prolific golfer. Gray, on the other hand, loved basketball. He was cleared by his doctor to play on teams under close supervision, and was never allowed to do wind sprints or be in a game more than a few minutes.

On February 8, 2015, the two older boys came home from college to have an early birthday celebration for Gray. The next day was a Saturday, and the family had a lunch with their maternal grandmother, and then went out with Dad for a round of skeet shooting. That night, Graham was preparing a birthday meal for the family and when it was ready, they called Gray to the table. No answer. Dad and Henry (the brother without LQTS) went looking for Gray, and Henry opened the door of the hall bathroom to see his brother passed out on the floor. Graham rushed in and checked him to find that he had no pulse, so she started CPR immediately and 911 was called. Eight minutes later Gray was in the back of the ambulance and with the help of a neighbor who is a cardiologist, his heart was started again and he was taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, he had been passed out so long, it was feared that he had brain damage due to lack of oxygen. Gray fought bravely for his life for 36 hours, but it was determined that he did indeed have brain damage so severe his vital organs would soon shut down. He was declared officially brain dead, and several hours later was taken off of life support. Even with foreknowledge of the deadly risks associated with LQTS, the worst case scenario sometimes can’t be avoided. The family designated the SADS Foundation as a core beneficiary of donations made in Grays’ memory so that they may continue to support families and save young lives through awareness and education.