A Halifax man says his brother’s tragic death has saved his own life after doctor's determined he had an undetected heart problem.
Jordan Boyd, 16, collapsed and died on the ice during his first day of training camp with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in August 2013.
“As a family, they put us through quite a bit of testing and, as a result, they discovered I had a heart condition unrelated to what took Jordan’s life that was deemed life-threatening,” says Boyd’s brother, 22-year-old Greg Dobson.
Dobson says heart specialists determined he had a condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which is potentially fatal, and had gone undetected.
“What it does is there’s an extra electrical current in your heart that speeds up your heart rate at a resting rate,” he explains.
Dobson underwent two heart surgeries within a week earlier this year, totaling 15 hours on the operating table.
He says it was the first time such an operation had been done in Canada, and only the second time it had been done anywhere.
In addition, Dobson says specialists discovered he also has the gene for the condition that resulted in his brother’s death.
“I’m grateful to my brother for being able to, in some way shape or form, helping me out as well.”
Dobson and a cousin are holding a hockey tournament in memory of his brother in August, close to the anniversary of his death.
Local National Hockey League players Brad Marchand, Shawn O’Donnell, James Sheppard and Andrew Bodnarchuk have signed on to play in the tournament.
Proceeds will be split between the Heart and Stroke Foundation and a leadership award in Boyd’s name.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant
