Vol. 16 Issue 235

Classifieds . . . . . . . .F1-F14Comics, Puzzles . . . . . D6-7Lifestyles . . . . . . . .D1-D12Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . C1-C8Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . C4Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B10TV Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . D10Wheels . . . . . . . . . . E1-E30

Friday, August 23, 201350 CENTS www.thevillagesdailysun.com

Forecast C2Clouds and storms

Today’s high: 90 Tonight’s low: 74

Today’s CharityMelanoma Awareness

Open season soon on drones?Deer Trail, Colo., population 500, is considering a proposal to issue permits to shoot down drones.

Nation A10

Syria blames rebels for deadly attackSyria’s deputy prime minister said foreign fighters are to blame for a purported chemical weapons attack.

World A3

Administration divided over EgyptThe U.S. is poised to sus-pend another weapons shipment to Egypt amid discussions over whether to cut off aid altogether.

Washington A5

Inside today’s Daily Sun

Florida focusCollege Colors Day

Athletes receive heroes’ welcomeVillagers who partici-pated in recent competi-tions around the globe were treated to a warm welcome-home celebra-tion Thursday.

Sports B1

School patrol keeps watchThe students who monitor the hallways of The Villages Charter School wear their bright yellow sashes with pride.

Local C1

Only in The Villages

Family in The Villages

George Horsford / Daily SunEvelyn Lamac, of the Village of Country Club Hills, stacks Lifestyle Portfolio packages in The Villages mailroom .The 86-year-old moved to The Villages in 1986 and has worked as a clerk in the mailroom since 1993 .

Donations can be made at Bealls stores in The Villages or Lady Lake .

1,593.02 pounds collected so far

= 100 pounds

College Colors Day Food Drive

Jack and Elin Jones

Share your college pride

3 to 5 p.m. Aug. 30Spanish Springs Town Square

7 days until

Brought

to you by:

Resident marks 20 years as Villages mailroom clerkBy JILL SHERMANDAILY SUN SENIOR WRITER

THE VILLAGES

Evelyn Lamac recalls thinking “It’ll only be a few years” when she became a Villages employee.

Today, she marks 20 years in The Villages mail-room putting together portfolios for prospective buyers.

And she’s quite tickled about it.“It’s just a pleasure to be among people,” the Village of

Country Clubs Hills resident said recently. “It makes me feel more energetic. It keeps my mind sharp.”

Lamac, 86, started working in the mailroom in 1993. The facility in those days was in the current La Hacienda Recreation Center.

Back then, she worked almost every weekday. Now, she works two days — or eight hours — a week. It’s enough for a woman who has wisely chosen to scale back her activities.

“My legs aren’t that strong,” she said. “I don’t do that much walking anymore, but I do get around.”

Technology has simplified mailroom operations in

See MAILROOM, A6

By NICOLE DECKDAILY SUN STAFF WRITER

THE VILLAGES

When 6-year-old Vincent Groetzner died suddenly

from a rare disease, his fam-ily thought they never would overcome the grief.

But the family persevered and found a way not only to honor Vincent’s memory, but also to help others.

Vincent’s parents, Lisa and Paul Groetzner, along with his grandparents, Susan and Lou Avallone, of the Vil-lage of Briar Meadow, have

made it their mission to keep his story alive in hopes that no one else will experience what they did.

“You get through it when you deal with these things head-on,” Lisa said. “You can’t hide from it.”

When Vincent died three years ago, no one, including emergency room staff, knew what happened to him.

It took six weeks for his family to find out that the cause of Vincent’s death was an “awake” episode of malig-nant hyperthermia caused by central core disease.

RAISING AWARENESS IN HONOR OF VINCENT

George Horsford / Daily SunLou and Susan Avallone, of the Village of Briar Meadow, are working to inform the public about malignant hyperthermia, a rare condition that took the life of their 6-year-old grandson, Vincent Groetzner .

Villagers join effort to keep grandson’s story alive and save others from hidden, often-fatal disorder

One mother’s mission

See VINCENT, A7 See MISSION, A7

Lisa Groetzner, who lost her son, Vincent, to malignant hyperthermia, is on a quest to protect other children and par-ents while honoring the memory of her son.

Q: What have you been doing to raise awareness of this disorder?

A: I just had a medical conference at Orlando Health with the Malignant Hyper-thermia Association and will have another in September in Albany, N.Y. I submitted an essay to Mayo Clinic for Social Media Week and am waiting to hear from the judges. I get very involved with Facebook groups, such as The Villages Hyperthermia Association page and Central Core Disease page, and share as much as I can with them about what has hap-pened. I have met

Vincent Groetzner

“There are people out there

now who may have this and

aren’t even aware until it’s too late. Anything we can

do to promote more information

is going to save lives.”

—Lou Avallone,Village of Briar Meadow

State earns high marks for strengthening building codesFlorida is one of only nine

of the most hurricane-prone states that has been proactive in strengthening its residential building codes, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety stated in a new report.

Highest: The state already ranked the highest, tied with Virginia, in the institute’s original 2012 report, which assessed states’ residential building code systems. The codes help increase the safety of structures, reducing injuries

and property damage from hurricanes and other hazards.

Update: The latest update measured the progress of the 18 most hurricane-prone coastal states in strengthening residen-tial building codes. The update found that most of the states with strong building code sys-tems at the time of the original report have continued to be committed to building safety, keeping codes up to date.

New codes: Florida, in particular, is in the process

of adopting the 2013 Florida Building Code, based on the 2012 editions of the Interna-tional Code Council codes.

“This update provides each state a useful analysis of their latest building code activities and what steps they can take to better protect their commu-nities,” Julie Rochman, IBHS president and chief executive officer, stated in a release.

— Tatiana QuirogaDaily Sun senior writer The Associated Press

a lot of people that way and it’s really very interesting.

Q: Why is raising awareness important?

A: For me, of course, it’s because losing Vincent, not knowing about it, was devas-tating. Getting the word out in his honor and his memory helps to do something positive and can help other families so they don’t have to go through something like this. The more we learn about it, (the disease) might not be quite so rare.

Q: How do you try to avoid this happening again?

A: We don’t participate in outdoor activities in brutal heat. We try to do outside activities when it’s cooler and just try to be careful. We have cooling vests for them, and

the school has a care plan. We work on them being able to notice any symptoms and ver-balize what’s going on.

Q: What do you hope happens in the future?

A: It is my hope that in Vincent’s name we can continue to raise awareness regarding MH among emer-gency medical professionals and help to establish proto-cols for EMTs and ER staff. One should never become complacent in their medi-cal training. There is always more to learn and knowledge to share.

— Nicole Deck Daily Sun staff writer

After months of research, the family found that if the ER staff had been able to diagnose Vincent’s condition and had been equipped to handle the rare episode, he possibly could have been saved.

Looking for the zebraFor Lisa, Paul, Susan and

Lou, the ultimate goal is to increase awareness of the dead-ly disease as much as possible.

“There are people out there now who may have this and aren’t even aware until it’s too late,” Lou said. “Anything we can do to promote more infor-mation is going to save lives.”

With persistence from Lisa, more and more people have become enlightened — from parents to caretakers to those in the medical field.

Vincent’s case recently was published in the Journal of Anesthesia & Analgesia, and with the assistance of Vincent’s medical examiner and Lake Emergency Medical Services, Lisa educated the ER staff at local hospitals.

Lisa said that raising aware-ness has made a huge differ-ence in dealing with the loss of Vincent, because she is able to have a positive focus.

“I’ve been able to talk about it and do something about it, and try to honor his memory as many ways that I can,” Lisa said. “It helps; it’s very healing.”

Because Vincent loved to paint, Susan and Lou formed the Vincent Groetzner Memo-rial Arts Scholarship Fund two years ago, which provides financial assistance to children who are interested in the arts.

And with the help of Malig-nant Hyperthermia Associa-tion of the United States, Lisa also held “Let’s Save a Life” mini-conferences in Mount Dora and Orlando, and will have another in September in Albany, N.Y.

With each conference, Lisa is able to meet patients with similar stories.

“In the medical field, they say, ‘When you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras,’” Lisa said. “But sometimes, you might have to look for that zebra. You have to think outside of the box a bit. That’s my hope.”

Moving forwardSusan and Lou, whom

Vincent called “Memaw” and “Bebaw,” remember him as an active, observant and sweet grandson. They cherished his visits.

“He’d always run through the door and give us a big hug and kiss,” Susan said.

Since Vincent’s death, the family has found out that Vin-cent’s father, Paul, inherited the MH gene, which was passed down to Vincent and two of their three other children, Dominic, 8, and Avelina, 5.

Lisa now keeps medical papers ready and ID bracelets on the two children so the hos-pital can take the right mea-sures if a situation arises.

To avoid another attack, the Groetzner children are kept

from playing outside when it’s very hot, and they have been taught to verbalize any warn-ing symptoms they experience.

Lisa said that Dominic used to get frustrated when he wasn’t allowed to do as much as he wanted to outside.

“He’s just a boy and wants to run around and play,” Lisa said. “It’s hard to slow them down.”

Lisa found that swimming has been the perfect outlet for the children’s energy. Dominic joined a swim team.

“It’s a wonderful exercise for them,” Lisa said. “It keeps them cool and active.”

Avelina isn’t on the swim team yet, but Lisa said she prob-ably will be when she gets older.

“She just thinks she’s a little mermaid,” Lisa said.

Lisa shows both of her daughters, Avelina and Alessia, 3, photos and videos of Vincent regularly to keep his memory alive. Avelina, who was 2 years

old at the time of her broth-er’s death, told her mom she remembers Vincent.

“He doted on her like crazy,” Lisa said. “He was a very good big brother.”

Vincent always was protec-tive of his siblings, especially Dominic, who was only a year younger. The two were very close.

“It’s really hard for (Domi-nic),” Lisa said. “He loses it, and then I lose it, because you don’t want to see your child hurt. But he knows we can always talk about it. I tell him, ‘It’s OK if you and Mom cry. This is what happens when you love some-one so much.”

Nicole Deck is a staff writer with The Villages Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9036, or nicole.deck@thevillages media.com.

A7DAILY SUNFriday, August 23, 2013 From Page A1

Bonifay Country Club • 1033 Pinellas Place • The Villages • (352) 205.7455Evans Prairie Country Club • 1825 Evans Prairie Trail • The Villages • (352) 750.2225

TOP $$$ PAID!YOUR OLD GOLD JEWELRY

GOLD AT RECORD HIGHS352-307-3846

sc

Wed, Aug. 28 at 8amComplimentary breakfast

MVP Athletic Club Lobby • 1000 Main Street, Suite 237

Dr. Joel Hunter, Board Certified Ophthalmologist, will explain how you can achieve a full range of vision and freedom from glasses.

Call Hunter Visionto Reserve a Seat407-385-1620

Hidden FencesResponsible Owner...

Responsible Neighbor...Happy Dog.

352-351-3642mo

VINCENT, from A1

Submitted photoTwo weeks before Vincent’s death, the Groetzners celebrated Memorial Day. Front row from left: Avelina, Dominic and Alessia. Back row from left: Lisa, Vincent and Paul.

Submitted photoLisa and Paul Groetzner celebrate Vincent’s second birthday at Gilbert Park pavilion in Mount Dora.

MISSION, from A1

What is malignant hyperthermia?Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially fatal,

inherited disorder usually associated with the admin-istration of certain general anesthetics and/or the drug succinylcholine. The disorder is due to an acceleration of metabolism in skeletal muscle. The signs of MH include muscle rigidity, rapid heart rate, high body temperature, muscle breakdown and increased acid content. The underlying defect is abnormally increased levels of cell calcium in the skeletal muscle.

Mounting evidence suggests that some patients will also develop MH with exercise and/or on exposure to hot environments. Without proper and prompt treat-ment, mortality is extremely high.

Source: Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States