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Sean’s Story

Site created on July 22, 2021

On Tuesday, July 20, Sean played in his usual weekly beer league hockey game with his brother Kiernan. (They lost, but it was Kiernan's fault, as Sean scored what could have been the game winning goal if his brother wasn't a sieve.) He got home around 11:30pm and was rocking his daughter Monroe to sleep in her room when he started having trouble breathing. His girlfriend Megan heard this on the baby monitor and rushed to help him, but found him unresponsive. We now know that he had suffered a massive cardiac arrest and had stopped breathing. Megan called 911 and started chest compressions while the ambulance came and rushed him to the ER. Between 12:30am and 4am on Wednesday July 21, he continued to go into arrest and had to be defibbed multiple times. He's currently in a medically induced coma and hypothermic state in the Cardiac ICU, with a Impella Ventricular Assist Device helping his heart pump, a ventilator helping him breath, and a constant dialysis machine helping his kidneys function (the downstream effect of blood flow stopping). All of this is designed to give his organs some rest so they can recover. The doctors are not sure why this happened. The symptoms presented as a heart attack, but his arteries are all clear. He tested negative for Covid. Their current thinking is that it is Myocarditis possibly brought on by a viral infection, but doctors say we likely will never know definitively.

For now, Sean is critically stable and we are just hoping for no bad news today. The EKG this morning showed some improvement in his heart, which is a good thing. The next milestone comes tonight when they plan to warm his body up and start some cognitive testing to see how his brain has been impacted. His parents, Denny and Robin, flew down from California and his taller, more handsome older brother Keegan flew out from Chicago (note to future Sean reading this: you didn't think you'd get a pass from heckling just because you were in a coma, right?), and we are all here with him telling terrible jokes and charming our way into visiting hour exceptions. We will share news as it comes.

We want to let our friends and families know what is going on, and ask that you say some prayers, send some love, and send some positive energy in Sean, Megan, and their two year old daughter Monroe's direction. The phone calls and texts have been amazing, please post messages here as well. Your support helps tremendously in this trying time. We know our brother will make it through this, but this part of the journey is pretty challenging so we thank you all for your love and support.
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Newest Update

Journal entry by Keegan Riley — Aug 19, 2021

Please join us for a celebration of life for Sean Riley on Friday, September 10. We will be hosting this event in the Minneapolis area in order to allow Sean’s extended family and friends in the midwest to memorialize him without air travel. If Sean were describing this event, he would call it an “Irish Wake”, at which point his mother would remind him that he is also half Swedish.

Sean was born on September 10, 1982 at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina. It seems only right that we celebrate his first heavenly birthday right around the corner. We have reserved the entire three-season patio at COV Edina, in the Galleria area. The space is large enough to accommodate 75-100 people, so please feel free to share the invite with anyone who may want to honor Sean. The event will be private, fully outdoors and well ventilated to minimize Covid risk, but will be covered with plenty of heat sources to ensure comfort even if the weather doesn't cooperate. Sean's family will be hosting, with heavy appetizers and full bar from 4:30-8:30pm, so please stop by for all or part of the evening to share stories, memories, and hugs with Megan and Monroe, Robin and Denny, and the rest of Sean's family. There will be no formal presentation, but toasts are encouraged and may increase in frequency and duration linearly with the bar tab. (Please plan to Uber if you identify with that joke.)

Thanks to everyone for the continued love and support, and we hope to see you on September 10.

Please RSVP here on Evite.

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