{"id":40728,"date":"2022-09-29T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=40728"},"modified":"2022-09-29T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T10:00:00","slug":"josh-thibodeau-soccer-tournament-welcomes-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2022\/09\/29\/josh-thibodeau-soccer-tournament-welcomes-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Thibodeau soccer tournament welcomes teams"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Danielle Ray <\/b>
\n Landmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 It\u2019s been more than 11 years since the Thibodeau family lost their 12-year-old son Josh after he collapsed while playing soccer. Although the pain is still a constant and heartbreaking presence in their lives, they remain committed to channeling their grief into doing something good through the foundation created in his name.<\/p>\n

The Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness in preventing sudden cardiac arrest, or SCA, in children and adolescents, and providing charitable assistance to individuals, families and organizations. In the 11 years since Josh\u2019s parents Deb and Ralph Thibodeau founded the nonprofit organization, they have donated 84 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, at a cost of more than $1,000 each. The AIDs are easy-to-use medical devices used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned that if Josh had had an electrocardiogram (ECG) that his condition might have been detected,\u201d said Deb, who serves as the foundation\u2019s executive director while her husband serves as treasurer. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want any family to go through what we have, and wanted to raise awareness about heart conditions in youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, the foundation has awarded $23,000 in scholarships to Wachusett Regional High School and Mountview Middle School students, funded $8,000 for CPR training for Worcester Public Schools, screened more than 1,200 students for cardiac issues and heart conditions, facilitated and funded WRHS coaches getting certified in CPR, and more.<\/p>\n

Josh\u2019s story <\/b>July 18, 2011, began like any other day for two parents rushing their kids out the door for summer activities. Their three boys had soccer camp, and one of their two daughters was headed to dance camp. In the story behind the foundation portion on the foundation website, Deb wrote that the family was \u201call tired, and a little cranky\u201d having attended the New England Revolution\u2019s annual Futbolito soccer tournament the day before.<\/p>\n

Deb and Ralph, who have lived in town for a total of 23 years now, did the divide and conquer dance so many parents are familiar with and split up, with Deb taking the girls in her car and Ralph transporting the boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my haste I never said \u2018bye\u2019 or \u2018I love you\u2019 to the boys (life lesson here). Rush, rush, rush. Can\u2019t be late,\u201d Deb penned.<\/p>\n

After doing drop-offs, she and her husband and their youngest daughter returned home. The couple grabbed some coffee, and Deb remembers them discussing how they were going to start enjoying their kids more and \u201cbe better parents\u201d when the phone rang. It was their oldest son in a panic, telling them that Josh had had a seizure and that they needed to come quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI screamed, \u2018Not Josh!\u2019\u201d Deb remembers saying. \u201cI can still hear that panicked, squeaky voice in my head today.\u201d<\/p>\n

They grabbed their youngest and rushed to the school where the soccer camp was being held, only a short distance from their home in town. They ran as fast as they could up the hill and came upon Josh lying there on the turf field.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur boys, and those attending the camp, saw him fall chin first,\u201d Deb recalled. \u201cThe EMTs were there, repeatedly shocking our sweet, dirty, 12-year-old with a defibrillator.\u201d<\/p>\n

They continued with the defibrillator on the ambulance ride to the hospital. Deb watched and prayed as the scene unfolded, and then doctors took over in the ER. Joshua \u2018Moose\u2019 Daniel Thibodeau was pronounced dead one hour after his collapse on the soccer field.<\/p>\n

His autopsy results came back with the diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could we not know he had a heart condition?\u201d Deb wrote. \u201cOne family member, an R.N., said to me \u2018you just don\u2019t go there\u2019 with a seemingly heathy child.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould Josh\u2019s death have been prevented? Maybe. Josh exhibited some shortness of breath while running and playing soccer. He was given an inhaler and being treated for exercise- induced asthma, which he didn\u2019t have. He thought this \u2018helped a ton.\u2019 Once or twice he complained of a brief chest pain, but replied when asked, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m fine.\u2019\u201d Josh\u2019s family understandably started going down the \u2018What if?\u2019 rabbit hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if Josh had an ECG or echocardiogram as a routine screening tool or answered a questionnaire that\u2019s purpose is to detect heart problems in student athletes? What if?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their story doesn\u2019t end there, as one of Josh\u2019s siblings was diagnosed based on ECG findings and genetic tests with Long QT Syndrome, a completely different potentially fatal heart arrythmia.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d Deb wrote. \u201cWhat if he DIDN\u2019T have an ECG? We will never know if Josh\u2019s life could have been saved, but it most probably could have been prolonged. I\u2019d give anything to see his smiling, freckly face one more time \u2026 or for one more day.\u201d 9th annual soccer tournament <\/b>The foundation\u2019s 9th annual Josh Classic 4 v 4 Soccer Tournament is coming up on Oct. 9 at Wachusett Regional High School, just one of the many ways his family strives to keep Josh\u2019s memory alive and help spread awareness about cardiac screening and their mission, to hopefully prevent other families from going through the tragedy they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, they have been very successful in terms of donations, community involvement, and fun,\u201d Deb said of the tournament. \u201cIt\u2019s a great family- fun day filled with soccer, food, raffles, activities for the kids, and camaraderie.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far 25 teams are signed up for the tournament, where there will be free Moose\u2019s Minions U10 and special needs Rock Stars soccer activities. Deb said they are hoping to get a bunch more teams, but she is \u201ca bit concerned that our numbers may be down due to a two-year COVID hiatus and the fact that the younger families and players aren\u2019t aware of us and what and why we do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ages from U7\/U8 up to adults are welcome to participate in the tournament, and the $100 cost per team goes directly to the foundation.<\/p>\n

When asked what they are looking forward to with the tournament\u2019s return, Deb said \u201cseeing children and adults enjoying themselves, playing soccer, and getting together. The day is about honoring a boy who loved the sport and his friends and helping others.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what she misses most about her son, the answer was simple: \u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh had an energy about him that was about goofiness, fun, but was also sensitive and very caring,\u201d she said, adding that she thinks \u201che\u2019d get a kick out of seeing his name on the T-shirts, banners, etc.\u201d when it comes to the foundation and the great things they are doing for the community in his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say that we are so grateful to the community for showing up and sharing their time, talent and treasure in order to help us do what we do. We couldn\u2019t do this without the support of others. We are very grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

To sign up for the soccer tournament, visit joshthibodeau9thannualsoccerclassic. eventbrite.com, and for more information, visit josththibodeauhelpinghearts. com and follow The Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation on Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOLDEN \u2014 It\u2019s been more than 11 years since the Thibodeau family lost their 12-year-old son Josh after he collapsed while playing soccer. Although the pain is still a constant and heartbreaking presence in their lives, they remain committed to channeling their grief into doing something good through the foundation created in his name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}