Fund in Memory of Lauren Melissa Courtney

A blonde, blue-eyed whirlwind of personality and activity - meet 13-year-old Lauren. She was a junior high school cheerleader, All-Star softball second baseman, gymnast, horseback rider, and volleyball and tennis player. She was an honor student who loved animals, singing, piano, and laughing - a lot!

And, she was our precious daughter.

Lauren was healthy, experiencing only the usual childhood illnesses, although she had an unexplained seizure at age five. An EEG showed seizure activity, but after taking the medication Depakote for two years, her EEGs were normal.

Around age ten, Lauren began to faint when startled, and during some times of physical exertion. Her doctor ordered an ECG to screen for LQT. The test was normal.

On November 27, 2000, Lauren was with friends, hurrying to catch the start of a school basketball scrimmage. At the top of the stairs, Lauren collapsed to the floor. Emergency help arrived almost immediately, but she was gone.

An autopsy was inconclusive. The coroner ruled the cause of death as "complications of epilepsy", although Lauren's neurologist disagreed. The pattern of fainting from being startled or after strenuous exercise seems to point to an almost textbook example of Long QT Syndrome.

While we may never know exactly what took our precious Lauren from us, our love for her and our desire to keep her light alive prompts us to share her story. It is our hope that, through her, others might learn and live.