Andra Jane Dalrymple wanted to become both a marine biologist and a globe-trotting professional photographer.
It was a big goal for a 12-year-old girl, but Andra displayed both talent and tenacity.
Her family never doubted the self-assured, wiry girl, who loved hip-hop, ballet and hunting - even when she announced she was going to save the world by the age of 16.
The Dalrymple family was shattered by Andra's death on Oct. 23- a death that came without warning.
It happened after Andra tried out for the soccer team at Flowing Wells Junior High School, where she was in seventh grade. When she got off the field she said she was dizzy. Her coach helped her to her mother's car, but shortly after the young girl went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics were able to revive her at the scene, but she died two days later at Tucson's Diamond Children's Medical Center.
The cause of her death was a rare congenital heart defect called Long QT Syndrome, which causes a sudden and dangerous abnormal heartbeat and in some cases, death. In the U.S., medical experts believe about 3,000 people die each year due to Long QT syndrome.
Andra's mother Jenine calls the days after losing her daughter her "blackout period," a time too dark to remember.
The family, which includes Andra's father, Phil, and and 10-year-old sister, Grace, set up a website called AndraHeart.com, which asks people to send postcards when they do something to help others.
"She really cared for others, for her sister, for people she didn't even know," Jenine said. "We had kids come up to us at the service, and they said you could always tell who was having a bad day because Andra was sitting next to them."
The Children's Museum Tucson, of which Jenine is a board member, is planting a garden in Andra's memory on its property. And the recent sudden deaths of four American teens, all athletes, have reinforced plans Jenine had under way to do even more to ensure her daughter's legacy.
This month, a Michigan high school basketball player, a 17-year-old Colorado rugby player and a 16-year-old North Carolina basketball player - all boys - died due to cardiac arrest.
In a fourth case, a 17-year-old female track star from Gainesville, Fla., died March 9 during a track practice. A cause of death has not been made public in that case, but media reports say she had been hospitalized before with heart trouble.
"I feel for these other parents," Jenine said. "You can't understand how you didn't know."
She is working on a plan to establish electrocardiogram (EKG) heart screenings for young athletes in Tucson. She believes cost is the main reason the test is not routine for young people.
The Dalrymple family had no idea there was anything wrong with Andra's heart when she died. Jenine said had she undergone a screening from a cardiologist, the death might have been prevented.
At the time of her death, Andra was loving junior high school. She showed glimmers of the adult she would have become, but was still a girl.
"She loved pandas. I'm sitting in her room right now, and I found a little piece of paper where she wrote, 'Pandas and bananas rule the world,' " her mother said.
Shortly before she died, Andra and her family attended a friend's bat mitzvah. The Dalrymples are Christian, and Andra was fascinated by Judaism and the "mitzvah" commandment under Jewish biblical law for individuals to make the world a more sacred and just place. After that event she told her family she wanted to save the world by the age of 16.
A prayer was read at the bat mitzah that stayed with the family - and gave them solace after losing Andra.
"The prayer said that when all is left of me is love, give me away," Jenine said. "Andra gave everyone a piece of her heart and at Andra's memorial we asked our friends and family to give away the pieces she gave them. What I want to do now is make sure there are more Andras to save the world."
How to help
• Donations to go toward a local heart-screening program for young athletes should be made payable to UMC Foundation/Andra Dalrymple Fund and mailed to UMC Foundation, 655 E. River Road, Building 2, Tucson, AZ 85704. For questions about donating, call 694-6088.
• The Dalrymple family is collecting postcards from people describing good works they've done that would further Andra Dalrymple's goal of saving the world. Postcards may be mailed to Andra Heart, 1015 W. Prince Road 131-135, Tucson, AZ 85705-3136.
• Donate to support the Tucson-based Steven M. Gootter Foundation's mission to end Sudden Cardiac Death at stevenmgootterfoundation.org
Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at sinnes@azstarnet.com or 573-4134.
