Sept. 29, 2016
SAN DIEGO - Former Aztec basketball player Dwayne Polee has been selected as the Take Steps to Stop SADS ambassador at the SADS Foundation’s Ninth Annual International Conference this Friday.
The Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation is an organization dedicated to spreading awareness, supporting families, educating medical professionals, and advocating for research to work toward better care and treatment for those with SADS. Each year the foundation works to save more than 4,000 young lives that may be lost to heart arrhythmia abnormalities.
Since 1991, the foundation has reached out to over 35,000 families affected by SADS and has educated over 5,000 medical professionals about the condition. The SADS foundation works with more than 25 world-leading experts, key organizational partners, and thousands of families throughout the nation to improve the quality of life for those with SADS and encourage research to find a cure.
“In December of 2014, Dwayne collapsed on the basketball court at San Diego State University,” Yolanda Kenon, Dwayne’s mother, said. “Dwayne was immediately transported to a local hospital. He was later diagnosed with an arrhythmia. Since that time, Dwayne has made a full recovery with prayers and proper care.
“There are a lot of children who are never diagnosed until the heart can no longer take the extra beats. Each year, children suffer from sports-related injuries that can be fatal. This is a grim reality that needs awareness just like cancer, breast cancer and other related heart diseases. As a family we are fundraising for the foundation to help others who have been diagnosed with heart conditions and conduct more heart research.”
In honor of the SADS Foundation’s 25th anniversary celebration, they have established Take Steps to Stop SADS, a family-friendly walk being held for the first time at the Ninth Annual International SADS Foundation Conference Friday, Sept. 30, at Mission Bay in San Diego. A pool reception at the hotel will follow the event.
Registration for the event is set to begin at 4 p.m. PT and Polee will address the convention at 5 p.m. PT. The event is open to the public.
Visit http://www.dwaynepoleejr.com/sads to find out more about Dwayne and visit www.StopSADS.org to find out more about SADS conditions and the SADS Foundation.
Polee played three seasons with the Aztecs, helping the program to two Mountain West titles (2014 regular season, 2015 co-regular season) and three NCAA appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in the 2013-14 campaign. He averaged 6.4 points per game at SDSU, finishing with the 18th-best 3-point field goal percentage in program history (.348).