Safe-Heart shirt designed to help young athletes BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Amanda Veroutis (r), 13, slips her Heart-Gard into a Safe-Heart shirt under the supervision of her cousin, Nicholas D'Amato, 13. Concetta Simonetti didn't know what she was getting herself into.What started out simply as a way to help protect her sons during Little League baseball games has become a major business venture, culminating in the Safe-Heart shirt. Necessity is the mother of invention, and that was surely the case for Safe-Heart. Simonetti, who lives in Manalapan, was concerned abut her sons' well-being on the diamond and had them wearing the Markwort Heart-Gard shield to protect against commotio cordis. Commotio cordis is the medical term for a disruption of the heart's electrical system caused by someone being hit with an object of any kind of force in the heart or chest areas in between heartbeats. In baseball, it's the result of being hit with a batted baseball. Commotio cordis, which is in reality cardiac arrest, is the condition that such an impact to the chest wall and heart can cause. Unless a defibrillator is used immediately, death can occur. More than 100 deaths in the last several years have been diagnosed as the result of this condition. Young athletes between the ages of 4 and 18 are the most susceptible. "Just to be safe, I told them to wear one," Simonetti said of the Heart-Gard. There was only one problem with the available heart/chest protectors: Simonetti's sons didn't find them comfortable. The straps around the shoulder and chest were cumbersome. That gave Simonetti an idea, to come up with a more comfortable way to wear the protector. "I bought an athletic body shirt, had my father [Anthony Andaloro] sew a pocket on the chest area with a Velcro opening, and slipped Markwort's Heart-Gard shield inside," she said. "My sons loved them." Thus was born the Safe-Heart shirt. It just so happened that at a baseball game, Meryl D'Amato told Simonetti that her sons didn't like wearing the current protectors either. Her sons tried the Safe-Heart shirt, liked them, and a new business venture was born. In fact, it was Jake D'Amato who came up with the Safe-Heart name. "We received great feedback from players," Simonetti pointed out. With Meryl D'Amato's husband, Phil, having a marketing degree and looking for a new business venture, the wheels were turning. Concetta and Meryl would learn more about business than they would ever like to know. They talked to Herb Markwort, who developed the Heart-Gard, and reached an agreement with him in which he allowed them to create a shirt that would fit his guard. Both sides were in agreement that the children's health was the main issue. It started with the right fabric material to use for the shirt, where to have them manufactured, how to get exposure, etc., etc. They went to baseball showcases all over the country from Orlando, Fla., to Colorado to Washington, D.C. The response to the Safe-Heart shirt was enough to convince them that there was a market for their product. Many leagues are adding the Safe-Heart shirt to their registration forms, suggesting that it and the Heart-Gard be purchased. It's become a family business, with Frank Simonetti adding his sales experience to the venture and Meryl lending her marking and advertising experience. Hand in hand with the Safe-Heat shirt, Simonetti and D'Amato want to raise the public's awareness about commotio cordis. It's not confined to the baseball diamond, it can happen in a number of sports from soccer to lacrosse, and parents should be more aware of it. "If it can even save one life, then our product was successful," said Simonetti. The tag line for Safe-Heart is: Have Fun. Play Ball. Be Comfortable. Stay Safe. For more information on the Safe-Heart shirt, visit www.homeofsafeheart.com.