ABOVE: A young adult gets an echocardiogram done by a Screening America staff member Thursday afternoon at Trimont Elementary School. The free screenings, which check for heart issues, are being funded by the Karson Kent Janssen Memorial
Brooke Wohlrabe-Editor/Publisher bwohlrabe@fairmontsentinel.com
Karson, a graduate of Martin County West School District, died suddenly in Nov. 2021 at the age of 19 from undetected myxomatous degeneration of the heart. Since then his family, which includes parents Kent and Jolynn and siblings Kennedy, Karter and Kooper, have established a memorial which has raised funds in an effort to help others detect unknown heart conditions.
With money raised in the last three Karson Kent Memorial basketball games, $80,000 has been given out in scholarships, plus more for grief support, AEDs, CPR classes and more.
New this year are the heart screenings.
“The screenings were always part of our mission but we struggled to find anyone who would do this and come to our area,” Jolynn explained.
She said they had contacted Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, Stanford and Avera before someone suggested Screening America, which said yes.
“They’ve been very good to work with,” Jolynn said.
Screening America is out of Sioux Falls. The organization brings a mobile screening and staff to a selected venue to do group heart screenings.
“It’s so non-invasive. It takes about 15 minutes to do all these things and we want the community to take advantage of it,” Jolynn said of the screenings.
She stressed that a sports physical is not enough and that more has to be done to check for hidden conditions, which is what the screenings are for.
Five tests are done are done as part of the screenings. They are an EKG, blood pressure test, evaluation for Marfan syndrome, cardiologist review and a limited echocardiogram.
For the echocardiogram, Jolynn said, “I specifically asked if Karson would have had this done, would they have detected it (his condition) and was told yes,” Jolynn said.
The results are read by a cardiologist in Sioux Falls and then sent directly to the individuals who got screened so that they can then get checked out by their own doctor.
For the first time, three screenings were scheduled, the first of which was on Aug. 15 and the other two this coming week. However, within a day the time slots on each of the three days were filled.
“I hadn’t even signed up my own kids,” Jolynn said, amazed.
She had posted about the screenings on the Karson Kent Janssen Memorial Facebook page with a link to sign up.
“We will be doing more screenings in the future,” Jolynn said.
Young adults from all over the area including Trimont, Blue Earth, Jackson and Fairmont are getting screened the first time around.
“It’s good to get our heart screened. Issues are being more prevalent in young kids,” Jolynn said.
With 42 slots a day over three days, 168 people are getting screened the first time around.
“People have been grateful. I know now these tests should be done every two years because things can change,” Jolynn said.
While they have yet to schedule a second round of screening, Jolynn said they will be holding the 4h annual Karson Kent Janssen Memorial basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 8. For now the family is looking forward to getting more people through next week’s screenings.
“If we can save one life it’s all worth it because no parent is ready for this. We want to raise awareness because if it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. If it can happen to Karson, it can happen to anyone,” Jolynn said.