Arrhythmic Hearts

Welcome

This site is the place for those who have an arrhythmic heart condition and/or those who have lost a loved one to a heart arrhythmia condition.

This site was born 12 months after I lost my eldest son Samuel to SADS at the age of 11 years.

Click here to read Samuel’s story.

We have recently launched the Tasmanian Support Branch of the Australian SADS Foundation.

There are support branches in most Australian States and Territory’s.

We are not doctors and do not intend to take the place of a medical practitioner so if you have any medical concerns please raise this concern with the appropriate person.

We are here to support each other and are not a judgmental group of people

Tammy - Arrhythmic Hearts Owner.

Silent killer that spelt sad end for active boy
By JENNIFER CRAWLEY
02jul06

GRIEVING mother Tammy Walker wants to warn Tasmanians about the silent disease that killed her son Samuel.

Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome, or SADS, killed Samuel suddenly and without warning.
The day before he died late last year, the 11-year-old did the clothes washing for his mother.

"He put it all through the dryer," Ms Walker said.

"He did so much washing that day."

The boy who had grown up at New Norfolk loved being busy.

If he had nothing to do, he was always looking for something to occupy him.

Using electrical appliances was one of his favourite pastimes.

Samuel was Ms Walker's first child. He was 13 months and three weeks old when his mum had twins.

Ms Walker's mother Pam Salt helped care for Samuel when the first set of twins was born and then again when another pair of twins and one more child followed.

"He used to call them his babies," Mrs Salt said.

The little boy loved to be around his parents and grandparents.

"Samuel found it hard to mix with children his own age," Ms Walker said.

"He always wanted to be around adults."

Samuel was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, when he was three years old.

His condition was controlled without medication until shortly after he started school.

His mother, grandmother and paternal grandparents Sue and Malcolm Walker were shocked when they saw the boy they loved being labelled as "the naughty child".

"I always worried that he would be alienated because he was different," Ms Walker said.

Samuel became attached to the teachers' aides at the school but did not play with the other kids.

"I used to see him on his own at playtime standing by the fence," Mr Walker said.

So did Mrs Salt and her husband Nigel.

Mrs Salt recalls one day in particular when she and Mr Salt were going to the dentist.

They could see Samuel watching them from the school yard in Pioneer Ave.

"Samuel was waving to us," Mrs Salt said.

Samuel struggled with school life, but found happiness at home with his family and with his grandparents.

"The kids wouldn't invite him to play," Ms Walker said.

"He would wander around with the teacher on duty."

Sue Walker said he just wanted to be accepted.

"He was so loving and caring, kind and helpful," she said.

"He doted on his brothers and sisters."

Mr Walker said Samuel never ran out of questions.

"He was so inquisitive. `How come, Pa?' he would say -- he wanted to know how everything worked."

Samuel's parents separated and the children were shared between Ms Walker and her husband Rodney week by week.

Ms Walker and her new partner James had a son, Blair, whom Samuel doted on.

When Samuel became frustrated, he swore and yelled and more than once the neighbours at New Norfolk took the brunt of his anger.

The neighbours at Mr and Mrs Salt's Old Beach home and Ms Walker's Mornington home understood the boy's behaviour and took him to the shops or let him walk the dogs and were just happy to chat with him.

Ms Walker said there didn't seem to be any help for her son.

"We had to fight and fight to get him extra help at school," she said.

The medication had only a limited effect on Samuel's behaviour and in September last year he was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and a mild form of autism.

He was admitted to hospital shortly before his death with gastroenteritis and hallucinations which were thought to be possibly related to his medication.

"Everything had to be clean," Ms Walker said.

"He had to cook his own scrambled eggs, the doormat had to be straight and he loved using the vacuum cleaner."

In the week before Samuel died he made Christmas cards for his Mornington neighbours and found toys for the dog next door.

He had settled into his new school Warrane Primary and was looking forward to attending full-time.

"His reading had improved and he had made some friends and made the most beautiful piece of artwork that now hangs on display for everyone to see," Ms Walker said.

"He put so much time and effort into his picture and was so proud of the finished product."

On the night of November 19 Samuel took his usual night-time medication and watched a Harry Potter movie with his brothers.

When the movie finished, Samuel called out to his mother that he was ready to go to sleep.

His younger brothers were already asleep when their mum came downstairs.

She kissed her son goodnight and turned off the light.

Ten minutes later she checked the children again.

Samuel was still awake and she cuddled him and gave him another goodnight kiss.

The next morning Ms Walker thought Samuel slept late.

"I wasn't overly worried about it because he was late going to sleep the night before," she said.

The kids were running up and down the stairs and Blair, the little one, had spilled green tomato chutney on the loungeroom floor.

Ms Walker cleaned up the mess and went back to Samuel's room.

He was lying face down on his pillow with his head turned to the wall.

His arms were hanging over the end of his top bunk bed.

"I said, `Samuel, wake up, why aren't you awake?'," his mother said.

"I touched his left hand, it was so cold. And he wouldn't respond."

Ms Walker started screaming.

She rang 000 for the ambulance, but it was too late. Her much-loved son couldn't be resuscitated.

Samuel was taking two different forms of medication, one in the morning and one at night.

Comprehensive toxicology testing was done at the autopsy because of Samuel's medical history.

No medications were present in his system at the time of his death.

"We can't blame the medication because of what the coroner said," Ms Walker said.

The report states that Samuel died as a result of natural causes and that the most probable cause was SADS.

The most common age of death from SADS is 8-14 years.

There may be up to 400 sudden cardiac deaths in Australia each year due to unexplained cardiac arrhythmia disorders.

The Australian SADS Foundation says four out of 10 children and young adults die with their first symptom of SADS.

Samuel was never a sickly child.

An active boy, he was always riding his bike or running around.

As a result of the coroner's finding, Samuel's parents and siblings Brandon, Tori, Dermott, Thomas, Zoe and Blair will have extensive heart tests by an experienced cardiologist.

They will be looking for a genetic condition called Long QT Syndrome.

Samuel's great grandfather on his mum's side died of cardiac arrhythmia 16 years ago