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Welcome to the Matthew Krug Foundation Website.
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The Matthew Krug Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization established in memory of my son, Matthew Krug. The Foundation is dedicated to saving
lives of young people through immediate response to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and early detection of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
(HCM). The Matthew Krug Foundation is addressing these goals by actively educating the public, promoting Public
Access to (Automatic External) Defibrillators [PAD] Programs and organizing cardiac screening events.
The Matthew Krug Foundation is headquartered in Wilmington, DE. Although
the Foundation's work is primarily in Delaware, it also partners with other non-profit organizations around the United States.
(See LINKS page.)
Thank you for taking time to review our website. May your family be safe and healthy.
Sincerely, Stewart Krug
Matthew's Story
In July 2001, Matthew was between his freshman and sophomore years at
McKean High School, Wilmington DE. On July 6th 2001, two days after his 16th birthday, Matt suffered
a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) while casually playing basketball at the community swimming pool. Matt received CPR from the
lifeguards until EMS arrived. EMS had to shock him three times with a defibrillator before he was in normal heart rhythm.
Matt was transported to Christiana Hospital (local hospital) emergency room, and was later transferred to AI DuPont Hospital
for Children. Matt remained in a coma at AI DuPont Hospital for twelve days before passing away on July 18th.
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July 4, 1985 - July 18, 2001
Matt was a very healthy boy, or so we thought. He was a member of the McKean High
School swim team, the Arundel (community swim club) swim team, and also an avid roller hockey player at the YMCA. As we learned
after the attack, Matt suffered from a type of heart disease known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (abbreviated HCM). You may
not have heard of this type of heart disease. However, about 1:500 people are afflicted with HCM. HCM is predominantly a genetic
disease, but many cases are not genetically linked. Matt was the later case. HCM is a disease that affects the heart muscle.
The most consistent feature is excessive thickening of the walls of the heart muscle, primarily the septum. Some people call
this enlarged heart. HCM is one of the silent type diseases. With no family history to help the physician, a typical health
physical will not identify the disease. An echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) is normally required to identify HCM.
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