Remembering Eli Silverman: What Every Family Should Know About WPW
Eli's friends at their first heart screening
An early Who We Play For heart screening
Eli Silverman
Eli Silverman was 19 years old and a student at the University of Florida when he died from an undiagnosed heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or WPW. He was the picture of health, loved by his family, his friends, his fraternity brothers and the Aventura community he called home. He wasn't a college athlete, and his story didn't happen on a field. His first symptom was sudden cardiac arrest.
What is WPW?
WPW is a heart condition in which an extra electrical pathway can cause the heart to beat dangerously fast. Many people with WPW have no symptoms at all, which is why it so often goes undiagnosed. An ECG can detect WPW in the vast majority of cases, and the condition can often be treated.
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Eli's Lasting Impact
Eli's story didn't end with his loss. His family and friends founded Eli's Lasting Impact Foundation, which provides free ECG screenings to help protect other young people. After Eli died, his brother Josh was also found to have WPW, and he received a procedure to correct it.
When we saw a recent photo of Eli's friends gathered for their first heart screening, it took us back to how Who We Play For began. On November 30, 2007, Rafe Maccarone collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest while warming up for high school soccer practice, and he died the next day. He had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition an ECG could likely have found. His friends, classmates and teammates came together after losing him and decided to do something about it. Beside their photo is one from the early days of Who We Play For.
As Kieran Easton said during the first soccer season after losing Rafe, "New season, same reason."
Get your child screened
A heart screening takes [CONFIRM LENGTH] and can find conditions like WPW before they become an emergency. [Schedule a screening] or [support free and low-cost screenings for Florida kids].
