My dad passed away unexpectedly and suddenly at the age of 50. He had a great deal of organ and tissue fragility. He had poor healing wounds and a lot of widespread pain. He suffered from a bowel rupture which miraculously survived in 2013. Sadly, his life was cut short on February 3, 2016 from presumed aortic rupture. His aorta was enlarged for quite some time, and near the end of his life it started to leak. After my dad passed, I had an echocardiogram which also showed an enlarged aorta. After meeting with a geneticist, we put all the pieces together and I received a vascular ehlers-danlos diagnosis 2 weeks after my dad died. My dad will forever be my hero, because I now have the knowledge and am receiving proper care.
—Kara Locey
