Article - CentralJersey.com
May 4, 2010

Sherrod's legacy could one day be a life-saver

The memorial walk honoring former Edison High School athlete Kittim Sherrod on Sunday was an inspiring event, for many reasons.

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The turnout was impressive, featuring hundreds of participants despite the hot temperatures, a reminder of how many people Sherrod had touched in some fashion. The emotions of the day ran the gamut, from an initial celebratory mood to some somber moments at the Mercury Road site where Sherrod collapsed and died during a training run last year, the victim of an undetected heart disease.

And then, when Sherrod's grandmother lifted the crowd's spirits with a few comments, it seemed to bring the day's events back full circle, recalling Sherrod's life with joy and smiles.

But most importantly, perhaps, is that the walk furthers an important cause, something that might ultimately generate some benefit from Sherrod's death. Formally named the Kittim N. Sherrod Heart-to-Heart walk, the event was designed to raise awareness of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?, the disease that killed Sherrod. And that effort to raise awareness has been a big part of the aftermath of Sherrod's death, and that of at least two other Central Jersey athletes killed by the same affliction.

The disease, and the importance of trying to detect it in young athletes, is undeniably gaining more and more attention. Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan, D-South Plainfield, who spoke at Sunday's event, is introducing legislation specifically designed to draw more attention to the disease. Meanwhile, the Montgomery school district has become the first in the state to provide low-cost cardiac screenings to athletes and marching band members in hopes of detecting the disease before it strikes. Other school districts are likely to follow Montgomery's lead, in some fashion.

There is typically a sense of pointlessness and waste that comes with the death of someone so young, a recognition of a life that could have been, of achievements that will never happen. And there is often a desire among family and friends to give such a death a sense of meaning.

Sherrod's loved ones are succeeding in that effort. Kittim Sherrod's legacy may one day be a system of cardiac testing for high school athletes across New Jersey that saves lives and that might otherwise have never existed without those keeping Sherrod's memory alive. That's something of which to be proud.