Hello! My name is Chris and I was diagnosed with HCM at age 15 (28 now). I am from Chicago and had no idea this group existed so it is nice to join! It all started with a fainting episode in my High school basketball game. I went to just about every hospital in the Chicagoland area but none of them could give me an answer. Every hospital would say "we are not sure what happened, but we cannot clear you to continue to play sports." I know sports are not everything, but to me as a 15 year old seemingly healthy individual, this was very tough to hear as I had aspirations to play college baseball and was obsessed with sports. So from the end of my freshman year to the end of my Junior year, I was not able to play any sports. I just attended the games and practices and watched from the sideline. Eventually I ended up at Mayo, got diagnosed with HCM, and got cleared again to play sports for my senior year as long as I got the ICD implemented. I ended up getting the ICD put into my stomach because I was a pitcher for baseball and the doctors thought the throwing motion would cause issues with the leads of the ICD. Anyway I eventually was able to go on to play college baseball so I am very happy that I ended up here years ago. Nice to meet you all!