Young Hawaiian falls victim to rare genetic disorder!
Kalani David almost died — again. His first dance with the devil happened this August, when he suffered a heart-stopping seizure at an Oceanside, CA skatepark. You can read about that here, but the gist is that Kalani suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Wolff Parkinson-White Syndrome, which messes with the heart’s electrical functions and can be fatal if left untreated. He is nineteen.
Three weeks ago Kalani suffered a similar seizure on Oahu, only this time it happened in the middle of the night. After seizing for up to six hours, Kalani was found by a friend and brought to a local hospital. He was then put into a medically-induced coma that lasted two days.
Since waking up, Kalani has spent the majority of his time in the hospital undergoing tests and procedures. Today he was put under the knife for an open-heart surgery. Moments before anesthetization, he posted this message to Instagram:
Getting my surgery done today, but I have one thing to say before his happens. There’s a lot going on right now personally with family and I have this to say. Keoni, Just know that the things that have been said about me are false. I love you till the death of me. You’re my baby brother and always have been my baby brother since you were born, I’d do anything for you. I held you right when you came out the womb. I’ve been born with this heart disease and now with all the stress and emotions it’s been triggered. The doctor said I’m lucky to even be alive after seizing for more than 6 hours. Which I was dead for 2 days. I’m going into heart surgery right now to get this extra piece of muscle burned. I gotta move on with my life and focus on my career. I love you Keoni just know that, I’m always here for you, love you boo boo your big brother Kalani.
This post is strange and ambiguous in and of itself, but when paired with his recent string of Instagram installments (read through the last ~20 photo captions), well the story just gets even more murky.
I’m not sure what’s going on, but it doesn’t seem… good.
We wish Kalani the best in his surgery (he went under at 10 AM Hawaii time) and hope to hear from him soon.
**UPDATE: Kalani is out of surgery and appears to be doing well!
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Not an open-heart surgery, it’s done via catheter ablation. Minimally invasive and hopefully this will stick long-term for him. An electrophysiologist does a “map” of the patient’s heart to see where the “misfirings” are happening. When Kalani said they “burned his heart muscle” he is right….they ablate to create scar tissue thus creating new pathways for the electric pulses to travel, hopefully regulating his heart rhythm. Here’s a good article:
https://medlineplus.gov/enc…
Love this grom i hope he recovers well and gets back on his surfboard and skateboard soon
My son has WPWS along with a congenital disease called Ebstein’s. Scary to hear this stuff. Hopefully he finds the care and program he needs.
I’m sure he’s got insurance to cover it, right? Or did his Obamacare get cancelled last night?
And FWIW, WPWS isn’t typically associated with seizures, particularly ones that are 6 hours long.
Also FWIW, open heart surgery is not a typical treatment for WPWS. Ablation is.
This kid needs to see a few more doctors.
What are you, a fucking heart surgeon? You’ve never even seen the kid in person, let alone his symptoms. Even if you were a specialist, you wouldnt know jack shit about it from the internet.
yes, yes I am.
Reading between the lines of the ‘Surfing; piece, I wonder if his WPW is associated with Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy [due to an AMP-k Mutation], because he talks of the ‘extra muscle in his heart”?
HCM certainly seems more in line with his symptoms and the thicker muscle description.
Well fuck me then, get over there and give Kalani a hand
nah he’s right – and ablations are done via catheter, not open-heart surgery
do WPWS pts get paced or just ablation and antiarrhythmics? hope he doesn’t have to go on amioderone
antiarrhythmics first, ablation second. Pacing only required (typically) when complications from ablation arise.
you rep for St. Jude or Medtronic? 😉
pfft. sales jobs are for slobs.
he’s out of surgery…and still alive..via his instagram an hour ago
Damn, that’s pretty gnarly. I had a gran mal seizure in 2008 and woulda choked on my tongue had it not been for the extremely fortunate presence of my roomate, who was outside and heard a thump when hit the ground. I was completely blue. I can’t imagine what he went through, but he’s obviously a tough dude! Hope he pulls through cherry lou!
Good luck to the poor little cunt. I’ve got a dangerous heart condition too. 8 times greater chance of stroke than the average bear. Big fucken hole in the cunt. Makes ya feel like a loveable, sexy time bomb. Never pander to your disabilities. Go hard.