| A decade later, the funeral at First Baptist Church in Crosby of an 18-year-old football player remains one of their largest. The sad part of it was the number of school buses involved in the funeral cortege that traveled from the funeral to the cemetery. Everyone encountering the procession knew it was the death of a child. Cody Stephens had just finished celebrating his high school graduation at a party the night before that honored him, and his brother and sister who were also graduating but from college. It was a special night. The following morning, before church, he worked with his dad to load up the chairs and tables they borrowed from the Baptist church to return before Sunday School. Instead of sticking around for church, the excited teen had a wad of money and gift cards burning a hole in his pocket to be spent so he headed out for some shopping. He returned home later that Sunday afternoon and went down the street to help one of their young neighbors celebrate a birthday. When he returned, he told his dad he was tired and retired to his father's comfy recliner, in his dad's room to rest. Around 6 p.m., Scott Stephens went to check on his son to see if he wanted food to eat, but like a tired teenager, he mumbled something and seemed to go back to sleep. At 10 p.m., his dad went to wake him up and send him to bed, but Cody was cold. Sometime between 6 p.m. and him waking him up at 10 p.m., he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest and died in his dad's chair. Since that moment, Stephens and his wife have committed their lives to warning parents of the danger of SCA and encouraging them to get their athletes screened. There's even a Cody's Law passed by the state legislature, with the help of State Rep. Dan Huberty, that targets the screenings. Now, the father has the opportunity to be on the world stage when he travels to the Super Bowl and during the week's activities leading up to the big game, he will be on Radio Row sharing his story with media from around the world. He's turned his grief into a mission to help save others. Hardly a day or week goes by that he doesn't receive a thank you letter or a phone call thanking him for his work to spread the message and hear stories of more lives saved. I hope your holiday celebrations were special and spent with family and friends. If you have stories for me to tell in this new year, please reach out to me at dtaylor@hcnonline.com. I enjoy your comments! | 
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