Class of 2008 Robinson graduate Ryan Lopynski was a freshman at Virginia Tech who’d come home to Clifton’s Hampton Chase community to visit his family and seek a summer job. But on April 26, 2009 he collapsed at home and suffered a fatal heart attack.
Afterward, his parents established the Ryan Lopynski Big Heart Foundation to honor his life and to raise public awareness about sudden cardiac arrest in young adults.
And on Saturday, June 15, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at Robinson Secondary School, the foundation will offer free EKG screening/readings to all Fairfax County high school students. Robinson is at 5035 Sideburn Road in Fairfax; use entrance No. 3 and go to Davala Hall.
One high school-aged athlete suffers a sudden cardiac arrest every three days in the U.S. The leading cause of death in young athletes on the playing field is an undetected heart condition. The best way to detect these heart conditions is through a heart screening using an EKG (Electrocardiogram).
Go to  and click on “Heart Screenings” to register for a free EKG screening/reading and to download the Permission and Waiver form. Bring the signed and completed form to the screening. A parent or legal guardian must accompany their child to the EKG screening.
One of the missions of Ryan’s Foundation is to screen high school athletes in hopes of preventing other families from experiencing this same tragedy. A simple EKG, when used to screen physically active young persons, can detect certain serious heart conditions by recording the electrical activity of the heart.
On the day of the screening, girls should wear a sports bra, t-shirt and sweatpants or sport shorts. Boys should wear a t-shirt and sweatpants or sports shorts. Girls will be asked to remove t-shirts but will keep sports bra on at all times, as well as shorts/sweats. Boys and girls will wear shorts/sweats at all times.
Small patches will be placed on the student’s chest, legs and arms. Electrodes are attached to the patches, and the hearts’ electrical activity is recorded. A team of volunteer cardiologists and technicians will be on site. Only female technicians will test girls and they will be screened in a separate area than boys. The entire process should take 10-15 minutes per student and parents will receive the results that day.