Family of late Massachusetts college soccer player advocates for health exam changes
FRAMINGHAM - JJ Facey was a star on the soccer field and a champion in the classroom and in his community. Now the family of the 18-year-old is heartbroken but determined. "JJ was bright. He was a kindhearted person. Although he was very athletic and competitive, he was also humble and championed the success of others," his father Jason Facey said.
The freshman at Framingham State University died earlier this month shortly after his first college soccer practice. On the way back to the dorm he began to complain about shortness of breath.
"He was walking and ending up getting picked up by a senior but then he had a seizure in the car, and things snowballed," Jason Facey said. "And we were given a diagnosis of HOCM, which is a malady of the heart, which enlarged the walls in his heart and didn't allow his heart to appropriately pump blood to his organs."
On Saturday, during FSU's first home game, they honored JJ and his family with a moment of silence. "To know that all these people and all his teammates love and care and want to carry his legacy on it really means a lot to me and my family," his sister Jalysa Facey said.
Mission to prevent similar tragedies
The family says they had no idea about JJ's condition at the time and that it's treatable and preventable. Now their mission is to put proper procedures in place to make sure young athletes' hearts are healthy.
"We realize that HOCM is a condition that many children could have and unless we are doing EKGs to check for murmurs of the heart, irregular heartbeats, as well as echocardiograms, we do not know if our children are healthy," Jason Facey said. "That would have been the only method of screening that could've saved JJ."
They are also raising money online to help raise awareness. "I miss my son terribly, but I don't want this to happen to another family," he said.
The family says JJ was looking forward to spending the next four years at FSU. He was going to study sports management and of course continue his love for the game of soccer. "He was known as bigfoot because he always took the corner kicks for his team. We will miss his loving energy on the field and his loving energy in the house," his father said.