PFC Alyssa Cahoon, 17, died on August 25 ‘with her family by her bedside’
She had been undergoing basic combat training at South Carolina’s Fort Jackson Army Base with her identical twin sister Brianna
The two were just five days away from graduating when Alyssa suddenly collapsed during physical training on August 20
Doctors later discovered she had a ‘very rare heart abnormality’
their mother wrote on Facebook, and Brianna will now be given an internal defibrillator
The family is now collecting soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House
A teenage Pennsylvania National Guard soldier undergoing basic combat training with her twin sister has died of a ‘rare heart abnormality.’
PFC Alyssa Cahoon, 17, died on August 25 ‘with her family by her bedside,’ the 1st Battalion 34th Regiment announced on Friday.
She had been undergoing basic combat training at South Carolina’s Fort Jackson Army Base, where she quickly rose to Squad Leader working as a 42A Human Resource Specialist alongside her twin sister, Brianna.
The two were just five days away from graduating when Alyssa suddenly collapsed during physical training on August 20.
She was immediately transported by Fort Jackson Emergency Medical Services to a hospital off-base for treatment, WLTX reports, where she was pronounced dead on Thursday.
The U.S. Army announced it would investigate her death, but on Sunday, Alyssa’s mom, Susan, said she died of a ‘rare heart abnormality.
‘Doctors found a completely undetectable and very rare heart abnormality,’ Susan wrote in a tribute on Facebook.
‘As tragic as this loss is, her sacrifice will save Brianna (her identical twin) who has the same heart abnormality, but will now receive an internal defibrillator.’
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