By Jeff Lipton
The family - mother Rita, father Kevin and six remaining brothers and sisters - lived in constant fear. "We never knew if we would lose another child, which is really scary," said Rita. "We had no idea what was going on. It was a real horror."
All of the Finnerty children had attended Long Beach Catholic School through sixth grade before attending Lawrence Public Schools. The family has lived on Rensselaer Avenue in Atlantic Beach for 40 years.
Both brothers had been members of the Lawrence High School football team and showed no life-threatening symptoms, their mother said. Doctors conducted a battery of tests on the family, but came up with nothing unusual. "We just figured it was some sort of phenomenon, and we went along all these years not knowing," Rita said. "We knew there was something there, but we didn't know what."
About two years ago, she went for a regular checkup, and the doctor discovered an extra heartbeat. She was sent to a cardiologist, who gave her a stress test, which she said she failed miserably.
Further tests determined that Finnerty was carrying a gene that causes ventricular fibrillation, and which was the key to unlocking her sons' cause of death. The gene causes the ventricles of the heart to spasm, severely restricting blood flow and causing the heart to stop beating. Immediately, all the other Finnerty children - Eileen, 46, of New Jersey; Mary Anne, 45, of Virginia; Billy, 42, of Suffolk County; Terri, 40, of New York City; Cathy, 39, of Florida; and Maggie, 35, of Oregon - were tested for the gene, and all except Terri were given defibrillator pacemakers, which shock the heart back into a rhythm when needed. In addition, doctors determined that Eileen's three children, Kevin, 17, Peter, 15, and Sarah, 11, also needed the life-saving device.
"Truthfully, it was a relief to all of us," said Rita Finnerty. "We finally knew what was going on. We all feel a lot more secure."
Maggie, a Lawrence High School graduate who attended the University of Oregon and law school, recently competed in the Pacific Crest Half Ironman in Oregon to raise money for the Heart Rhythm Foundation, in memory of her two brothers. The event includes a 1.2-mile swim, a 58-mile bike leg on a 4,000-foot incline and a 13-mile run. Competing with her pacemaker installed, Maggie finished second in her division. But more important, she said, she has raised $10,825 thus far for the foundation.
"We're very proud of her," said her mother.
The family celebrated her accomplishment last weekend, when she returned to Atlantic Beach for the Fourth of July. "Our family has been through a lot - initially 23 years ago, when Kevin and Timmy died, but it didn't end there," Maggie said. "For 10 years we all wondered who would be next, and when nothing happened to anyone else, we just sort of figured it must be some weird fluke.
"To learn 22 years later what actually killed them was like re-living the entire experience all over again, not to mention the anxiety caused by learning the same condition could take any of us at any time," Maggie continued. "This has not been easy on any of us. That's why I decided to do the fund-raiser."
She said she had done 10K runs and bike races before, but nothing as challenging as the Half Ironman. She said she had to train 15 to 20 hours a week for about six months to prepare for it. "Thankfully, the training paid off and the race went great," she said.
"It's quite an accomplishment," said her father. "She's very devoted to her brothers."
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
