Caleb Logan LeBlanc | 7 Years On
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Published 2022-10-01
On October 1st 2015, at 7:08pm, Caleb was pronounced dead at the hospital, the cause of which was determined as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart condition that had gone undetected in Caleb's previous checkups. He had been riding his ripstik in the living room when he was found unresponsive.
In 2013, Caleb, then 11, had an episode of chest pain that led him to the Emergency Department, where an abnormal ECG was detected. An echocardiogram was also performed. She was told everything seemed fine; no diagnosis of HCM was made. The next cardiac screening was scheduled to be in 2016, based on the cardiologist's suggestion, but unbeknownst to the family, a dangerously long period of time between screenings in an HCM family.
Caleb was a very typical young man in many ways. He enjoyed playing Minecraft, making people laugh, and playing baseball while proudly wearing his #7 uniform. In other ways, he was not so “typical” as he was a teen influencer with an Instagram account with over 800,000 followers. The family was on an exciting adventure as a vlog family with an active and daily YouTube channel, “Bratayley”. His family vlog’s most popular video yields over 69M+ million views! His final vlog (Dear Future Self, WK 248) filmed just one day before his death shows Caleb answering the "question of the day" a traditional end to each vlog - the question was "if you could ask your future self, one question what would it be?" Caleb says he'd ask if Taco Bell was still around, or if there were any new sports.
On October 1, 2015, their world shattered. Caleb had been hanging out and riding around the house on his RipStik. A short while later, he was found unresponsive in the living room. Katie was called and told to meet the ambulance at the emergency room; the most frightening phone call a parent could receive. Caleb was pronounced dead in the ER, a victim of sudden cardiac arrest due to undetected hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Caleb’s autopsy would later show a slight thickening of the heart.
Had Caleb been detected as having HCM, he could have been protected from sudden cardiac arrest with an implantable defibrillator. Unfortunately, there are often no symptoms that lead to sudden cardiac arrest associated with HCM in children, so it makes it difficult to diagnose and prevent. This is why regular screenings for children with a family history of HCM are extremely important.
Caleb’s story does not end with his passing. His endless positivity and kind-heartedness still impact his loved ones and followers who knew him, as well as new fans who discover him on YouTube today. Caleb's laughter was infectious, and no matter where he was, Caleb would always put on a performance to make people laugh. He celebrated every day of his life the best he could, setting an example for what is now Bratayley's slogan, notably matching Caleb's initials, CL.
His story is being told to help educate others about the seriousness of HCM and its unpredictable nature. His passing also highlights the critical need for better medical education about HCM, a primary reason our HCM Academy was developed. Caleb’s death also brings to the forefront the critical need to improve cardiac screening by enacting the Healthy Cardiac Monitoring Act - “HCM Act”
You can donate to the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy association here:
4hcm.org/donate/