Save the Next Bright Star 

The Daniel E. Rumphh II Foundation was created to bring awareness to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopthy(HCM) and Sudden Cardiac Arrest(SCA). As well as provide FREE screening for heart disease that causes SCA, and to place Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) into all Recreational Facilities in the tri-state area.

 Imagine this…it’s a warm, summer day, the neighborhood kids are playing their usual game of team basketball, when all of a sudden, right in front of your eyes, one of them suddenly collapses on the floor going into sudden, cardiac arrest! What would you do?  Would you run to the child and administer CPR, or would you call for emergency help?  Unfortunately this scenario happens far too often.  Without medical attention, a person will die within a few minutes. However, people are less likely to die if they have early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. Defibrillation is delivering an electric shock to restore the heart rhythm to normal.

Daniel E. Rumph II, a rising, basketball star who attended Western Kentucky University with extreme hope for a bright and promising future, was that kid you just imagined.  Sadly, he didn’t survive.  If the recreation center had been equipped with an AED, Danny, as we affectionately called him,  may have still been with us today.  Danny came home for a short visit on May 5, 2005, before his team went on a trip to Europe. Danny was in great shape, so on the evening of May 8, 2005, he went to the local recreation center to play a game of basketball with his friends. Danny went into Sudden Cardiac Arrest right after scoring the game-winning basket.  His friends didn’t know how to administer CPR, and there was no AED in the center.  Danny died, at the young age of 21, on May 8, 2005, from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart that shuts down when it's under stress.

Viola Owens, Danny's mother, and Marcus Owens, Danny's uncle, formed the Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation (DERII) in memory of Danny.  The DER II Foundation was then established to “Save the Next Bright Star”. 

The DER II Foundation vows to do whatever it can to continue to implement education and screening programs throughout the tri-state area to identify Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and other heart issues that cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in hopes to save another family from going through the pain of losing a loved one to Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.