Track meet held for Cy-Fair HS athlete who died of cardiac arrest aims at raising awareness

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- A track meet held Saturday morning at Cy-Fair High School honoring a Houston-area teen was more than just about who came in first place.

It was about raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest. The Inaugural Damani Gibson Memorial Relays brought together dozens of athletes and supporters in honor of Damani Gibson and 10 families who also lost their child to sudden cardiac arrest.

Gibson passed away unexpectedly from sudden cardiac arrest after coming home from a morning track practice just over two years ago. He experienced no symptoms, according to his family.

After Gibson's death, his parents, Ruqayya and Damon Gibson, began the Damani Gibson Foundation to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

The foundation provides free heart screenings, CPR and AED classes and even offered these services all throughout the day on Saturday.

"If Damani is gone, I can't have him back, he's not coming back physically, what can I do with the pain that I've been allowed to experience?" said Ruqayya. "I can save somebody else. It became my new purpose."

To learn more about Damani's cause, visit the Damani Gibson Foundation's website.

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