After collapsing days before graduation due to a ‘rare heart issue,’ a Pennsylvania National Guard man of the same age began training with his identical sister.]
PFC 17-year-old Alyssa Cahoon passed away on August 25 ‘with her family at her bedside’
She was attending basic combat training at Fort Jackson Army Base in South Carolina alongside her identical twin sister Brianna.
On August 20, just five days before their graduation, Alyssa suddenly fell during physical training.
Later, doctors determined she had a’very unusual heart issue,’ according to their mother’s Facebook post, and Brianna will be given an internal defibrillator.
Currently, the family is collecting drink tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.
A teenager completing basic combat training with her twin sister in the Pennsylvania National Guard has died of a ‘rare heart condition.’
The 1st Battalion 34th Regiment stated on Friday that 17-year-old PFC Alyssa Cahoon died on August 25 ‘with her family by her bedside’
She was receiving basic combat training at the Fort Jackson Army Base in South Carolina, where she soon climbed to the rank of Squad Leader while serving as a 42A Human Resource Specialist alongside her twin sister, Brianna.
The two roses were only five days away from graduation on August 20 when Alyssa fell during physical training.
According to WLTX, she was transferred by Fort Jackson Emergency Medical Services to an off-base hospital for treatment, where she was pronounced dead on Thursday.
The U.S. Army declared that it will examine Alyssa’s death, but on Sunday, Alyssa’s mother, Susan, revealed that her daughter died from a “rare cardiac issue.”
“Doctors discovered a perfectly undetected and extremely unusual cardiac defect,” Susan wrote in a Facebook tribute.
As awful as this loss is, her sacrifice will rescue her identical twin, Brianna, who has the same heart defect but will now receive an internal defibrillator.
Alyssa Cahoon, on the right, passed away on August 25, five days after falling during physical training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. She and her sister, Brianna, had been receiving basic military training in preparation for employment with the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Brianna was implanted with an internal defibrillator after doctors determined she had a “rare heart condition.”
Alyssa fell just five days prior to the sisters’ graduation from basic training at Fort Jackson (shown).
Their mutual friend Courtney Blom said on Facebook in May that Alyssa and Brianna did everything together.
Prior to joining the National Guard as human resource experts, both individuals were black belts, honor students, and athletes at Forest City Regional High School in Pennsylvania.
In a photo posted to Facebook, the two sisters are depicted holding their rifles while standing side by side in costume.
The 1st Battalion 34th Regiment posted on July 16: “How cool is it that they get to go through basic combat training together?! “, adding that they “qualified on their rifles with Back-Up Iron Sights.”
In memory of Alyssa, the family is currently collecting soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.
Susan said on Facebook that the Ronald McDonald House ‘has been so wonderful to us during this terrible time.’ The Cahoon family is currently collecting soda tabs to donate to the Ronald McDonald House, which ‘has been so good to us during this difficult time.’
According to a flyer she put on Facebook, “Our family began collecting soda tabs in 2016 in order to make soda tab chain mail armor for Stephen’s (Dad) 40th birthday.”
Susan explained, “We continued to collect, and each one was worth a kiss from mom.”
She continued, ‘Aly and Bri went out of their way at BCT to collect tabs from those who drank the “gross” tomato juice. ‘They sent us the BCT tabs so that mom could give us later kisses.
“As a family, we’ve decided to collect soda tabs under the name “Kisses for Aly.”
“The Ronald McDonald House has been so helpful to us during this difficult time that we would like to return the favor.”
Kisses for Aly will contribute to the Ronald McDonald House’s tab collection fundraiser.