Katherine could tell that something was wrong with her heart – but doctors kept telling her that she was a perfectly healthy eighth grader. After experiencing Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in a CrossFit parking lot, Katherine is sharing her story to spread awareness – and to help other teens advocate for their health.

In eighth grade, Katherine’s mom dropped her off at a weekly CrossFit class. The class started warming up with a light jog around the building. “I went outside, and the last thing I remember seeing was the tires stacked up on the side of the building,” says Katherine. “It was actually harder for my family than for me, because they saw it happen. I woke up four days later in the hospital.”

The hospital ran tests on Katherine, and discovered that she has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Her brother and father also learned that they have the gene. Katherine had been complaining of symptoms – including chest pain – for months before experiencing SCA.

“After I had my SCA, and found out that I had HCM, it was kind of a ‘ha, I told you’ moment to my doctors,” she says. “I was relieved, because I knew what I had, and I had a way to treat it. I didn’t have to worry as much.”

Katherine received an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) while in the hospital after her SCA. “That was super hard – I was in eighth grade,” she says. “My biggest struggle should have been math, not adapting to a device in my body. I was very afraid it would go off. I couldn’t just walk through airport security anymore. It was a big change.”

For a few months after surgery, Katherine felt pain around the ICD insertion site, and felt like she was “hunched over” the incision spot. But the hardest aspect of her ICD was psychological.

“I didn’t feel like myself – I felt like I’d been invaded,” she says. “But suddenly, almost overnight, my mind and body recalibrated. I stopped noticing my ICD. I see a little oval and scar in the mirror – but it makes me feel like me now. Sometimes it makes me feel scared still – but it also makes me feel safe.”

Katherine wants others who are newly diagnosed to know that recalibrating to your new diagnosis is a process. “There are highs and lows. Living with a condition like this is kind of like a roller coaster,” she says. “It’s not all bad, though.” She also wants others to know that SCA can happen to people of any age – and that if you have a chance to get tested for these conditions, you should take that opportunity.

Katherine is going into her sophomore year of high school. Her favorite subjects include English and Science. “My survival chance was only 9%, but here I am,” she says.