Jordan Boyd’s Legacy: Over a million dollars raised to save Nova Scotians with inherited heart disease

It will be 10 years next month since 16-year-old hockey prospect Jordan Boyd suffered a fatal cardiac arrest at his first practice with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

An event his parents Stephen and Debbie Boyd say they will never get over.

“We spend a fair bit of time now trying to do good things in Jordan's name," says his father Stephen.

His proud parents watched their son take the ice for his first practice with the Titan on Aug. 11, 2013.

Ten minutes later, his dream turned into a parent's worst nightmare.

Their strapping six-foot-one son, an elite athlete, collapsed on the ice from cardiac arrest.

It took paramedics eight minutes to arrive... but it was too late.

Debbie Boyd takes a deep breath and gathers herself looking back on that terrible day.

"In a lot of ways it seems like yesterday,” she says, “and it never gets easier."

Jordan Boyd died from an inherited heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricle

Cardiomyopathy – or ARVC – a genetic abnormality that multiple family members discovered they carried after his death, including Debbie, who has a surgically implanted defibrillator.

"With the gene it can be either active or dormant,” she explains. “With me it's active."

The Boyd's also worked with the QMJHL to prevent another tragedy.

"Each team needs to have an AED at all practices and events,” says Stephen, adding, “Each team must renew their CPR training and how to use AED's annually."

In the wake of their grief, the Boyd’s created the Jordan Boyd Foundation, which has raised $1.2 million for Nova Scotia's Inherited Heart Disease Clinic, through a series of fundraisers over the past decade.

His mother says the work soothes her heart.

"And I get to see his friends,” says Debbie, “it's just magical."

The Jordan Boyd Foundation recently partnered with EHS to put AED's in six community spaces around Nova Scotia, including DeWolf Park, a popular gathering place in Jordan's hometown of Bedford.

"This location, there’s literally thousands of people walk by here each week," says Stephen, adding their son is proof cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, at any age.

Debbie says "We're going to continue providing money for research and awareness and continue testing and it's all we can do."

The Jordan Boyd Foundation is now partnering with Atlantic University Sport to make sure varsity athletes and staff have access to AED’s as well.