How He Died

http://justinmarcucci.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-did-my-brother-justin-die-answer.html

Justin and Stephanie; Story in University of Chicago, Booth News

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/news/2011-08-29-marcucci.aspx

Legacy of Booth Alumnus Carries across Expansive Network

Justin Marcucci, ’05 and his wife Stephanie—who previously served as associate director, marketing and communications for the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship—were long-time members of the Booth community and great supporters of the school.

This past spring, a number of websites, including a memorial fund, were established to remember Justin, who passed away unexpectedly due to a rare case of idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

“He definitely felt that many of his achievements came from the knowledge he gained while at Chicago Booth and from the network of alumni he got to know there,” said Jared Marcucci, Justin’s brother.

As a student, Justin studied entrepreneurship and finance. He also competed in the New Venture Challenge, placing third in the business case competition along with cofounders Peter Shannon, ’05; Jon Mano, ’05; and Oliver Banz, ’05, for Crazy Waters, Inc.

In his most recent role, post-graduation, Marcucci worked for eBay in San Jose, Calif., as general manager for Fashion Vault, a component of eBay Marketplaces that focuses on clothing, shoes, and accessories. According to his brother, Marcucci’s career was closely linked to his time at Booth.

“Justin knew he wanted to work in Silicon Valley in a start-up business in the tech industry,” he said. “His MBA from Booth catapulted his career toward his life goals in business. Justin seemed to always be advocating for the university and felt very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend Chicago Booth.”

In fact, it was Justin’s expansive professional and alumni network—bolstered by his time at Booth—that first motivated Jared to create the numerous websites in his brother’s honor. Hoping to preserve memories for Justin’s family, friends, and colleagues around the globe—including numerous contacts from his time working in London and Prague—Jared created an archive of photos, videos, and a blog that raises awareness about the medical condition that led to Justin’s tragic death.

“I thought that the many people who knew and loved Justin would benefit from having a website that they could visit for updates and to learn more about what had happened,” he explained. The blog itself received more than 10,000 hits in the first few weeks and continues to draw increasing numbers of visitors.

An educational fund for Marcucci’s children—three sons, Grant, Kellen, and Lennox; and daughter, Johnna, who was born in August—has been created by his colleagues at eBay and is currently linked to the numerous websites.

For more information and to learn more about the memorial fund, please refer to the websites below.

—Kate Fratar

•   Facebook memorial page

•   Blog site by Marcucci’s brother, Jared

•   Archive of downloadable videos photos

A Paypal education fund for Marcucci’s children has been started by his colleagues at Ebay. Information for making a contribution is available on the blog.

1 widow 4 children, including brand new beautiful baby girl!

1 Widow and 4 Children (including brand new beautiful baby girl!)

Justin's friends and family established a Paypal education fund for his children. To donate, go to www.paypal.com and click on the Send Money tab. Enter the dollar amount you wish to donate, & indicate that your payment is for Friends & Family. Next enter as the email Address:

justinmarcuccifamilyfund@gmail.com

in the To box. Anyone can donate, even if you don't have a Paypal acct. Please post in your status if you feel so inclined. If you would rather not use Paypal to donate a special fund has been created for Justin's family and Children. You can mail a check

UBS Financial Services FBO Stephanie Marcucci

And send it to:
UBS Financial Services 
601 W. Riverside Ste. 1200
Spokane, WA 99201

All donations of any amount will be a great blessing for his family. Thank you.

Baby Johnna Justin Marcucci Is born

Baby Johnna Justin Marcucci was born on august 23rd 2011: 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20.5 inches long 


Yes, her name is spelled "Johnna Justin" but I'm pronouncing it "John-uh | Jus-teen."  lots of people have been asking me. I know it's confusing, but it's also very sentimental. And it works with the "Banana-Fanna" song, so Justin would totally approve. Hee...hee. ~ Stephanie Marcucci 




Check back regularly as we add updates and more pictures.

36 years old

Justin would have turned 36 years old on August 13, 2011 but it was not to be. The day was another day without Justin. He is gone. Now I know the proper thing to say to make everyone feel comfortable is that "he is with us in spirit and always in our hearts."

However, he is not on the other end of my cell phone when I have a new funny joke to tell him or a story I want to tell him. He is not here to offer his advice. His birthday was another reminder of this, and "this" is real. Justin is dead.

He will not be there to cut the umbilical cord when Stephanie has their baby. There is no anger or bitterness but rather just reality. I miss him everyday and love and cherish all the memories and good times I was fortunate to have with him. I feel no shame or guilt in stating what may be uncomfortable to read but I would rather man up and state reality. He is gone and it sucks, it really does suck and that is ok and I feel no need to sugar coat this or say something to make myself feel better about it.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have him gone and to have had unfinished business or bad blood. Instead because of his great ability to be present and involved in my life, it was  and is all good. I can find celebration in that.

Happy Birthday Bro. Thank you for being my best friend and brother and being involved in my life and present in my life while you were living.

Like the lyrics say by Arcade Fire:

If I could have it back
All the time that we wasted
I'd only waste it again
If I could have it back
You know I would love to waste it again
Waste it again and again and again

Memorial to Justin from BYU, Marriott School of Business

The video takes a about 10 seconds to start after clicking on play. The first 10 seconds are just a still frame.

I stumbled across this video on You Tube, putting in "justin marcucci" in the search box. This is a great tribute to who Justin is and what he did to serve others.

This video can be found on You Tube and on the Box website as well:

You Tube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3AQROIZZZk

The Box link:
https://doctorsbag.box.net/shared/z66e8i7ypu


I thought I would post it here as well for those of you have not see it yet.

Justin's Official Death Certificate Diagnosis

"I just opened a letter from the Coroner's office. The final death certif has been issued. At last. Reason for death is listed as: Complications of Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy."  ~ via email from Stephanie Marcucci 

This is what we were hoping for as this is what the diagnosis actually was and believe it or not often time pathologists as well as many other doctors will word things inaccurately to help themselves.

This diagnosis is not a good one for pathologists because it means "I do not know what happened!" (Idiopathic) for an unknown reason Justin's healthy enlarged heart stopped without any medical explanation or reason. 

"I do not know what or why a slightly enlarged but healthy heart with no pathology or signs of badness caused the heart to stop." =  "Complications of Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy"

Pathologists think this diagnosis makes them look bad when in fact it is just being honest. I had a handful of conversations with the Pathologist and at one point he was trying anything to pull any unrelated diagnosis (possibilities that he knew were not the cause and he knew that I knew as well). 

Ultimately I was not sure which road he would take and it is comforting to me he took the high road. 

The diagnosis that I described in the posting on this blog entitled:

"How did my brother Justin Die? Answer = Sudden Cardiac Arrest"

I do not think I included any info about Justin's healthy enlarged heart as we did not want to cause any fixation or confusion at that time prior to having an "official diagnosis" although we did know at the time of the autopsy his heart was "enlarged but healthy", the pathologist also referred to it as an "elite athletic heart" and there were no signs of obstruction or congenital defects or defects of any kind that would have caused the sudden cardiac arrest. The original blog is included below:

http://justinmarcucci.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-did-my-brother-justin-die-answer.html

The sudden cardiac arrest still stands as discussed and it was caused by Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Also, this term still causes lots of confusion because 10 - 15 years ago the exact term Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) (note no idiopathic here) used to describe a disease we now call Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy  (HOCM) and even in the medical community these terms are misused and are very different diseases. HOCMs is what causes young athletes in their 20's or even younger to drop dead (sudden cardiac arrest) on the basketball court and is a congenital defect that can be passed on to children and is actually an unhealthy enlarged heart.

So there it is, and although this may leave a lot of unanswered questions it is the correct diagnosis. It is essentially a bunch of smart sounding medical mumbo jumbo for Justin died of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) secondary to unknown causes, although his heart was enlarged it was healthy and there are no signs that this enlargement played a roll in the SCA at all. There is no medical explanation or physical finding, laboratory finding or imaging modality / ekg finding for why his heart stopped. It just stopped. 

The only thing I would say is to be careful of reading outdated material about Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy which Justin did not have, he had Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy which medically is a big difference and often not understood and even misused by healthcare professionals. Several flawed internet sites will discuss Idiopathic Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy as though it is HCM or HOCM and there is much confusion with these terms. There is also a unhealthy heart idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy discussed ( where the unhealthy heart description is left off or silent and just a given) as well as a healthy heart idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (with the "healthy heart" left off) which further adds to the confusion.

If all of this is just a bunch of words, know this much;  Justin had a healthy heart and the doctors do not know why it stopped. God did not leave any evidence behind at the scene.

I am grateful for a good honest pathologist who could of easily worded the diagnosis in an incorrectly, inaccurate manner to bolster his own ego and chose to go with the medical data instead. This is another miracle in my mind as I have seen it go the other way so often. 

jared