Michael James Halpin 1/16/91 - 12/2/08 MISSION STATEMENT HEART SCREENING EDUCATIONAL INFO SPONSORS LINKS   My 17 year old son Michael Halpin passed away (12/2/08) from Mitral Valve Prolapse. We never knew of this undetected heart condition until his death. My baby boy would still be here today if a heart screening was done. My family and I are still having such a hard time. We are now trying to find out how we can make a difference in our community to help save the lives of others that may have undetected heart conditions. We will be working with hospital’s in our area to facilitate a Youth Cardiac Screening program. We can’t bring Michael back, but we can try to save other parent’s from our pain. I never heard of Sudden Cardiac Arrest until it was too late.  On December 2, 2008 our world changed forever. Michael was 17 years old and a senior at Los Gatos High School. He proudly wore #52 as a member of the Los Gatos Wildcat's. Michaels freshman year goal was to make the varsity football team with his friends. The Wildcat's were just a week away from the CCS Championship Game VS Palo Alto when Michael passed away. Coach Butch wasn’t sure if the team was up for the game after loosing Michael, I ensured coach that Michael would be there so we better be there as well. Los Gatos beat Palo Alto with a score of 29 to 23, which totals Michael’s jersey number 52. Michael was there & is forever in our Heart’s.  Suddenly we had to try and understand terms like Mitral Valve Prolapse, Sudden  Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM).  It is our hope that the information and services provided by Michael’s  Legacy will help keep another family and community from the heartache we have experienced. Can we really afford to lose anymore of our bright future?