Crew 13 launch & ECG heart screenings

Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us here on Fox Tampa Bay Live on this Thursday, October 1st. We are officially in another month of 2026. This year is moving by fast. It's been a busy one and it's going to be a busy day, busy hour for you here on Fox Tampa Bay Live. I'm your host and executive producer Regina Gonzalez. I'll be here with you to move through all of the news and the live events that we've got going today. And we are going to start with the biggest story of the top of our hour, a live SpaceX, SpaceX and NASA launch. So it's a NASA crew on a SpaceX rocket. So for space travelers, as you can see, sitting tight, getting ready to leave earth. If Florida's weather will cooperate, that has been a big thing that we have been watching for. At one point earlier this morning, they said about 40% chance a go, but we were listening in right as this was kind of going and you can see we've still got that eight minute countdown. So the fact that that clock is still trickling down, that is a great sign. So we did hear from forecasters that the weather was going to be tricky to follow because as you can see, it's a little overcasty, but NASA and SpaceX are targeting an 1110 launch this morning for crew 13 headed to the International Space Station. So they are going to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, just about an hour away from us. Our sister station Fox 35 Orlando, they've been doing a great job at team coverage this morning and we're going to check in with some of their reporters in just a bit. But this capsule that you are looking at, this is the Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. And what's really cool is there is a Florida connection to all of this. So we'll exit this live feed for just a moment so I can show you this incredible crew here. One of them, pilot Luke Delaney, grew up in Volusia County. How cool is that? He is part of this four person crew expected to send about, they're going to spend about six months living and working in space, taking over for crew 12 and conducting research to help prepare for future missions to the moon and to Mars. So if everything goes as planned, they could dock with the space station around seven tonight. And we've been looking, we'll go back out to this live feed. Intentional until the last couple minutes of the countdown. Colder propellants are denser and the denser propellants. So as you can see, SpaceX doing their own narration there. And we will listen to that in just a bit. But this crew has been sitting tight in there for at least about an hour. I mean, you can imagine how early they were up. So they've got about an eight hour ride, I know, to the International Space Station. So we are certainly wishing them a safe journey, a successful journey. It's going to be so cool to watch this. I love a good launch, especially after the Artemis coverage we did a couple of months ago. But obviously, like we keep saying, weather, a huge concern. We've gotten positive news up until this point. But for more insight, we do want to welcome on. We've got meteorologist Nash Rhodes with us this morning. Good morning, Nash. How are you? Good morning, Regina. Doing well. Excited just as you to watch this launch hopefully happen here momentarily. Yeah. I've been watching a little bit of rain still around the area. OK. But the big thing to keep in mind is it's not necessarily the thunderstorm activity happening directly on top of the launch site or directly nearby. They're going to be looking at all the thunderstorms downwind as well. The general trajectory of this is going to be to the northeast near Newfoundland and flying over potentially areas like Ireland, way down the pipeline. So they're looking at the column of air from the surface up to where they'll be flying all the way through that trajectory. But as you look at Sky Tower vector scan, our side of the state is dry for now. I noticed, though, on the East Coast, just some light rain there meandering off the shoreline. Nothing strong yet. I think they've been very lucky to this point, Regina. At the moment, we have what's called an easterly flow. That means storms are mainly going to form with our sea breeze boundaries on the east side of the state or the Atlantic Coast first. That's why we're getting our thunderstorms in the second half of the day. But it makes it very tricky for these launches. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed they're going to get this one off. I know you'd mentioned the 45th weather squadron dropped those odds to about 40 percent for the weather to cooperate again, not just looking overhead of this launch, but also downwind of where it's going to be flying next. So obviously the 40 percent, it doesn't sound like a lot. And now we've got look at this Nash. How cool is that? We've got both the crew and the capsule. Any moment now you've got that clock about to dip down into the four minute mark. So I feel like so far. I mean, listen, I know in the last few seconds you could see some things change, but it looks like this is some good news, Nash. Absolutely. And this is a crude mission. So they're going to be taking every precaution when it comes to everything, of course, beyond just the weather forecast. But when I'm looking at here, it looks like things are easing up there in the area. They're probably going to try and squeeze this in barring that those downwind conditions still look good to Yeah. So, I mean, can clouds alone stop this launch, even if we're not seeing lightning? I think about I mean, obviously it's a very different procedure, but I think about how aircrafts an airplane can take off in the rain. Yeah, it's more complex than just looking at maybe lightning around the area or thunderstorms. It's the different types of clouds in the different columns of the atmosphere that can change little bits of trajectory or cause issues with regards to this aircraft. So that's what they're going to be looking at. It's not just simply is there a storm in the area, but what are they going to be flying through many miles down the pipeline? Yeah. And so let's fingers crossed. We're less than four minutes at this point. One more question for you, Nash. If for any reason in the next three minutes and 45 seconds, they have to scrub this, they were going to look to tomorrow. How's the weather looking for tomorrow? You know what? They're going to be optimistic looking or not, not as optimistic looking at tomorrow. I think it's going to be the exact same weather pattern, Regina. I wouldn't be shocked if we're right back in this situation again, if they do decide to push this back. I mean, we're getting so, so close. Hopefully they get this one in today. They've been very lucky so far. It's not a guarantee tomorrow would be as lucky as they've been so far. Yeah. All right. Well, Nash, thank you so much. We appreciate you for this forecast update, guys. We are going to listen in to SpaceX's coverage as we are just in those final three minutes, almost a two minute countdown. This is the best part, especially when you get to that 10-9-8-7-6. So we're going to stop talking now. Nash, thank you so much. Absolutely. We're now standing by for the call that stage- Stage one LOX load is complete. Right on time. Stage one liquid oxygen loading complete. That's what the rocket uses as an oxidizer to combine with the refined kerosene that we just finished loading a few minutes ago. When those two are united- Dragon is in terminal count and is on internal power. Confirmation for internal power. Dragon using its own batteries. So back to the liquid oxygen, we get the thrust we need to break away from the pull of Earth's gravity when we combine liquid oxygen and that densified kerosene. We can't go anywhere until we have both. And that white vapor you see coming off of the rocket is totally normal. Like Jesse mentioned earlier, liquid oxygen is super cold. Obviously, Florida is not. So those clouds are just condensed water vapor and vented cold gas. We're coming up on two minutes until liftoff today. And at the t-minus two minute mark, that should complete liquid oxygen loading on stage two. So we'll stand by for that call. Stage two LOX load is complete. And Falcon 9 is fully loaded with one million pounds of propellant, providing over 1.7 million pounds of thrust for the vehicle. Dragon is in auto idle. All right, the next major milestone coming up will be at t-minus- Ground gas closeouts. Expect loud venting. At t-minus one minute. And we did hear that call out that to expect loud venting. The team is informing the crew of all the noises and sounds that they will hear so they know what to expect and they know what's happening as they can't see outside of the vehicle. Again, at t-minus one minute, the flight computers will take over the launch countdown for Falcon 9, which will hear that call out called Falcon 9 and startup. There's that count down. The last call is from the launch director for the final go for launch. Falcon 9 is now Dragon SpaceX go for launch. There's that call out. Go for launch. Crew is ready to go. Let's listen in to the final moments of the countdown and watch as Falcon 9 takes Crew 13 out into space. T-minus 30 seconds. T-minus 15 seconds. T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition and liftoff. Go Falcon. Go Dragon and go Crew 13. 13 carried by Dragon Brace to the International Space Station. Merlin engines on the first stage at maximum thrust of 1.7 million pounds. The spacecraft will also begin to pitch down range, meaning it's turning slightly horizontally from what you saw at liftoff to help build speed. T-plus 40 seconds. T-plus 40 seconds into Crew 13's mission on board of Dragon and Falcon 9. And we did hear that call out for stage one throttle down. That is in preparation for Max Q coming up here in a few seconds. Max Q. And there's that call out for Max Q. That's the largest structural load that the vehicle sees on ascent and the crew and Falcon 9 have passed through it. V1 Bravo. Coming from inside the spacecraft, one Bravo, meaning we are in the second and final abort mode for the first stage, but we are continuing to get good performance. The crew is pulling over two Gs. You can see in the bottom right of your screen. Impact chill. Impact chill is how we've performed the engine chill for the first stage before liftoff. Very similar for the second stage. And then we'll have MECO, or main engine cutoff, where the nine engines on the first stage will cut off ahead of the first and second stages separating from one another. Then that single Merlin vacuum engine on the second stage will ignite and continue to carry Crew 13 to orbit while the first stage begins its journey back to Earth. The nine Merlin 1D engines are beginning to throttle down and standing by for MECO, or main engine cutoff. And we will have a few events coming back to back. As Liam mentioned, MECO stage separation, the MVAC starting up on the second stage, as well as the boost back burn for the first stage, making its way back to Earth. Obvious confirmation, not only verbally, but also visually. That's the first stage, back floating away from Dragon. That MVAC engine, the second stage engine, has ignited, continuing to carry Crew 13 toward the International Space Station. Those were some really cool views. We actually saw the boost back burn start up on the first stage, heading back down to Earth. And now you can see on your screen on the left-hand side, that is the first stage vehicle. The grid fins should begin deploying here shortly. And on your right-hand screen is the MVAC engine on the second stage, still carrying the Crew 13 astronauts on board Dragon. The first stage is heading back to landing zone 40 today. Now three minutes, 30 seconds into the flight, Crew 13 traveling over 4,000 miles per hour. That's 6,700 kilometers an hour. There on the right side of your screen, that MVAC engine continuing to propel them. And it looks like the boost back burn has concluded on the first stage. And now you can see those grid fins. Wow, these views look incredible. Those grid fins now look like they are fully deployed on the first stage. You can see those puffs of gas there. That is just for attitude control of the vehicle. Meanwhile, we have about four and a half minutes left of powered flight on the second stage, now coming up on four minutes and 30 seconds into today's flight. You're hearing some calls from inside the spacecraft. That's NASA astronaut and commander Jessica Watkins leading Crew 13 aboard Dragon Grace. We're continuing to get good calls for nominal trajectory. Dragon is pointed in the right direction, continuing its flight, eventually accelerating to over 17,000 miles per hour and putting our crew in orbit. Dragon copy is nominal trajectory. And stage one is making its way back to Earth. It's completed its boost back burn. That was the first of three burns that it needs to land today. The next milestone coming up will be the entry burn. That's the second of three burns. And it will ignite three of those nine Merlin 1D engines to help slow the vehicle down as it enters back into the Earth's atmosphere. That's about less than a minute away from that entry burn beginning. It's about a 12-second burn for this mission today. And as a reminder, we'll be touching down on landing zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Now five minutes and 55 seconds into today's flight. Continuing to get good trajectory calls from the core, the crew operations resource. Dragon now traveling over 7,300 miles per hour, six minutes into the flight, pulling about 1.5 Gs, so a little bit more than what you're used to experiencing on Earth. And that entry burn is coming up on the first stage. Watch your left-hand screen for those engines to ignite. There we have the first engine lit for the entry burn. Should have been all three engines igniting and now has been shut down. Now that was enough to help us make our way back into the Earth's atmosphere as the vehicle is making its way down to Earth. The atmosphere actually scrubs about 70% of the velocity on Falcon 9 as it's making its way back down. There you can see the landing zone in the background. We have the last burn coming up, which is the landing burn, which will last just about 15 seconds or so. Helped the vehicle touch down for landing. What an excellent view. We can hear it. This is so cool. What did we just look at here? That is that separation and the second part of it basically coming back down right where it started from. Yeah, landed itself completely intact. It saves a lot of money and it's incredible when you see it play out in real time. The weather conditions, as we talked about, worked out so perfectly for this to happen, and it seems like at least to this point things are going well. Yeah, and I mean, you just think about how we worried about the weather for so much, but to see them exit Earth, leave Earth's atmosphere, and then to see this separation, you've got to think about how hot that is, what we're looking at right now. How fast they're traveling. Whenever it's a crewed mission like this, you mentioned it, you kind of get that knot in your chest as the launch happens because you just want everything to go perfectly. It was just unbelievable. Even this live image that we're getting here, how far we've come in the field to get stuff like this. This is amazing. I love it. You don't get to see things like this every day, people. We take you all over the nation, but today we're taking you to space. And Nash, what's really cool, we're going to get now that this separation is successful and complete and Crew 13 is on their way to the ISS, what we want to do right now is kind of give it that little Tampa connection and show, are you calling this a vapor trail? Look to the top left. What's left behind of it. We have a little bit of wind up high for the atmosphere. It's kind of tearing it apart, but you can still see it there on the left side of the screen. If you've seen a SpaceX launch and kind of, you follow the rocket and you get that vapor trail as it takes off. That's what we have there. You've got the skyline from downtown Tampa at the bottom right corner of the screen and the top left, that little squiggly line there. That's not a normal cloud. That is the vapor trail from the liftoff. And we had a good view of it as it passed by. Now it's going to basically disappear here at about five, 10 minutes or so, but really cool stuff here, Regina. That's awesome. Because you know what we were wondering and we usually can, since in retrospect, the space coast is not that far from Tampa, but to see that little jelly, the jellyfish looking swirl vapor trail is the correct term. We got lucky with the clouds. We have clouds on top of the screen, lower screen, and then perfectly in the middle. That's where we could briefly see that trail too. Yeah. And I mean, really quickly, Nash, we do got to get a quick break in soon, but I mean, the skies are looking pretty clear right now, but how are we looking for the rest of the day? I think we got some showers on the way. Yeah, Regina, the skies are lying to you right now. We've got sunshine. It looks so nice. Like I was walking in from my car thinking, oh, it's going to be a really nice day. I think the second half of the day is going to take a turn. We're going to have more clouds, scattered thunderstorms again. Most of those kicking off as early as two o'clock, but most of the coverage building as we approach sunset, this is going to be those storms on the East coast that eventually find their way to us. It's going to take some time, but I'm giving us about a 60, 70% chance of rain today. And this is just the start of what's going to be a very active pattern for the next few days for us here in Tampa. And I mean, retro in retrospect, it looks pretty hazy on this base coast. So are you shocked that this was able to take off? I'm not, I'm not sure. I guess I should say I'm surprised that they found a window. You never know what you're going to get. We knew there'd be storms around the East coast. They just got very lucky when I was looking at the radar and looking at thunderstorms in the area about an hour ago, I felt like there'd be a good chance they'd get this one in today. Well, the weather certainly looks pretty nice up here. I think clear atmosphere, hazy skies, by the way, a lot of that, the humidity in the atmosphere, that's why it feels so hot outside right now. And that humidity is sitting over us too. Awesome. Awesome. Um, Nash, thank you so much. We appreciate you joining this exciting coverage guys. We do have to get our first quick break in, but when we return, we're going to head out to the space coast to check in with Fox 35, Amanda McKenzie. She's out there speaking with people at jetty park who just got to witness this very close. All right, everyone, Tampa Bay live, live in space as crew 13 is climbing towards the international space station after so much concern about weather, whether or not this was going to happen because of the weather, truly an incredible moment to watch these four crew members begin their journey to the ISS. And they even have some local ties, this crew to the Florida area, specifically the area where they basically just took off from. And obviously when these launches happen, it's so, so natural for people to flock to all the parks. And I know some of them even park on the side of the road to catch launches like this. So what we want to do right now is we want to head out live to jetty park. That is where Fox 35 Amanda McKenzie is joining us live, just getting to see the launch herself out there. Amanda, how are you? How did that look from your spot? Oh, it was incredible as always to see a rocket launch go off in the sky and to actually not be delayed any longer. It was delayed for a few weeks before because of a repair that had to be made. But I mean, just amazing to see it go up, even though it was cloudy and the weather was questionable earlier on this morning. What's always fun is when you hear that delayed roar and rumble coming towards you from the water, you see the rocket going up in the sky and it's very quiet and still. And then there's that rumble that hits you several seconds later. And then that wasn't the only part of the show here. After the rocket goes into the clouds, you wait and wait for that booster to come back landing on the ground. So you see that bright orange light coming back to earth. And then a moment later, you hear boom, boom. So it just kind of hits you like a cannon going off. So it's an exciting sight to see. We spoke to people who came from near and far, and many, often I'm surprised to hear, have said that this is their very first rocket launch. So something memorable, of course. And then what makes today also extra special, not just getting to see a crewed launch this morning, but there is another rocket launch later this evening. So you can get a daytime and a nighttime launch. I love it. And what's incredible, Amanda, I know you've been covering some of the nitty gritty when it comes to this crew, what they're doing. Tell me about the pilot, I believe, who is right from there in Volusia County. Yes, pilot Luke Delaney. He's from Volusia County. In fact, there is even a watch party happening for the students at his former high school. We have our other reporter Marley Capper there going live, talking to students and teachers about that experience as well. But a lot of support for him as one of the locals now going into outer space at this very moment on his way to the ISS, along with three other crew members. There's even a Canadian astronaut on board as well, whose wife is pregnant and is expected to deliver their baby while he is away for six months on this mission. But we've been told that there are a lot of, I know there are a lot of ways that he's going to be able to stay connected so that he could be somewhat present for the birth of his third child and then be in touch with the family as she prepares for life with three children while he's on the International Space Station. Now that you say that, I did hear that earlier and I was like, wow, imagine just FaceTiming your wife from the ISS while she's giving birth to your child. What a time. But I mean, you can speak to that, Amanda, with how much you've covered these crewed missions. I mean, all of these astronauts are making some sort of sacrifice in order to do something incredible like this. Absolutely. It's a sacrifice and a commitment that all these astronauts make. They've worked very hard and studied very hard to get to where they are in life. And this is such a one in a lifetime experience that many people do not get to be part of. But here on the Space Coast, a lot of people feel that connection because they can watch these scientific moments happen in real time. And then also with technology, we can watch them live on board while they're inside that Dragon space capsule. So we'll be able to see them dock to the ISS later this evening. We're told that this is going to take about eight hours from the moment of liftoff to when they can dock at the ISS. And they're saying that this is going to be one of the fastest deliveries that they've made for that type of Dragon capsule yet. So another historic moment. And then they're going to spend six months up there doing some research and scientific experiments all to further space exploration beyond low Earth low Earth orbit. So that would include future missions to the moon and to Mars. I love it. I love it. So exciting and so exciting that you got to be out there. So I still have not been able to get out there to catch a launch like that up close. So I'm incredibly jealous of your assignment, Amanda Mackenzie. I know you've had a busy morning. Thanks so much for checking in with us here in Tampa. We appreciate you and maybe you'll catch the launch tonight. Yes. Thank you. Keep watching tonight. Exactly. Exactly. Amanda, thank you so much. All right, everyone. Well, big shout out to our Fox 35 Orlando team. They've been doing a wonderful job. Team coverage, as you can imagine, this morning. And we're going to continue our team coverage with someone who has had the opportunity to get out there and watch some launches. Craig Patrick, our political editor, but also resident space expert. How are you? I'm doing great. It's good to be here. Yeah. Big day. And look at this, Craig. Look at how cool this is. You and I can chat while we're watching this unfold. So I know you were just recording something for another show. Did you manage to catch a lot of this? Some of it, yes. Yes. Some of it. And it's a sight to behold. And it really shows how we're transitioning to something conceivably far more important that can take us much further than just low Earth orbit, just to a space station that's being decommissioned through 2030. This is going to be something so much more significant. And the Crew Dragon is simply a glide path to where we're Yeah. And I mean, I know they're going to be focusing on heart disease and Parkinson's. I mean, why do we need to go to space to study stem cells and these kinds of things? Well, it's not just that. You're studying the effects on our hearts, but we're also studying in a low or Earth gravity setting how our bodies behave. And the idea is that we want to live long term on a permanent moon colony. And then beyond that, a lot of the work that's being done on the I. S. S. Is not just with respect to Parkinson's. That is a byproduct of broader research that goes into how do we make a go of this long term? Because our plan is to send astronauts to the moon and this time to stay in future Artemis missions to build out a moon colony and use it as a launching pad to Mars. Well, just going to Mars itself is going to take nine months. So in the long six month duration that we have for Butch and Sonny was longer than six months was going to nearly a year. But for the months that they spend on the space station, they are testing themselves. They're doing experiments on their own bodies. And in the course of doing that, doing biomedical research, they can also in the environment of orbit be more conducive to finding better pathways for medicine and better ways for us to maintain our health in space. Yeah. And I mean, you have to think about every time. I mean, through Artemis, anytime you send someone out there and we've had the pleasure, you've had the pleasure of speaking with astronauts about what this does to the body. I mean, what did this crew have to do to brace themselves for this sort of mission? Well, the commander had been on this mission before on a prior crew launch. They spend months training together. They spend months in simulated environments underwater and beyond to prepare for every potential contingency. And they take very good care of themselves, knowing that they have a long duration in space in which there will be degradation in our bodies. That is an unavoidable consequence of going into space. They manage that the best they can on the front end through a very strict health and exercise regimen. They do simulations for one, what it's like living in that environment, though they already have some experience there, and two, for every possible thing that could go wrong or anything they might need to do manually in the course of getting there and back, which the crew 12 is coming back, I believe, around October 5th and all the things they will need to do, not just to maintain and manage the ISS while they are there, but providing for anything, any adverse situations that could occur. Did you hear, Amanda, Craig, can you believe that one of the astronauts is gonna have a baby while he's up there? Can you imagine that? Isn't that exciting? I know, and you are detached, but what a story you have to tell to your future child, isn't it? Were you there for my birth, Dad? Well, no, but I've got a good excuse for why, and here's what I was thinking in space, thinking of you, thinking for mankind, thinking of where we're going to be, and this is, I mean, we've said this many times before, but this truly is a turning point in history. We're in an age where AI is obviously accelerating, there's upside, downside, there's risk both ways from this, but one of the potential payoffs is that it will help us find the answers to get far beyond Earth and live in places far beyond, colonize other places, find resources that can solve our energy needs here on Earth as well, and in doing that, not only will we technologically advance, not only will we solve our most pressing problems here, but we may well solve the mysteries of existence or be well on our way. That is what the human experience in many respects is all about. That's the story you can tell your child of why you weren't there for the birth, but what you were thinking about in the way. There's Dad. He's already got the coolest dad. He, she, I don't know what they're having, but already got the coolest dad and he's already got two other children. So the family's used to this. Craig, thank you so much. We appreciate you. I know. Are you going to be covering this later on Fox 13? Well, I hope to. Yes. I hope to. Yes. Awesome. And we're also looking at that. That's what we're looking at right now. Craig, that's in Houston. Is that the command center? Well, I see a gray blur because I'm not wearing my glasses. I think it is. Yes. Right. I think that's the main, the main hub where they watch all this. You got so many eyes on this mission. And that's the thing. It's just, there's so many cooks in the kitchen to make something like this successful. So shout out to NASA, SpaceX, a successful launch, crew 13 on their way to the ISS. We are going to take a break. We're going to move on to more news after this, but we'll keep bringing you that shot of them creeping towards the ISS, about an eight hour journey throughout the course of the show. Thanks, Craig. Thank you. Fox. All right, everyone, welcome to Fox Tampa Bay live. Thanks so much for watching on this exciting Thursday, October 1st, we just sent another crew of NASA astronauts in a SpaceX capsule to the ISS. They are on their way as we speak and you can see crews in Houston monitoring their every move very closely. And that will be the case from when they land approximately seven ish tonight Eastern time at the ISS. So we're going to keep tabs on their mission. You can bet that we'll be following this throughout the course of the day on Fox 13 news, but we are going to get on to some other conversations and topics that we wanted to talk about here. So a new heart screening program is now underway here in Tampa. It's aimed at helping protect young athletes from potentially deadly heart conditions that can go undetected. This is an important topic all the time, especially as our kids now are starting those fall sports. They're in the middle of their season and Florida is now the first state in the country to require ECG heart screenings for high school student athletes under the new second chance act. The program actually launched yesterday at quest diagnostics on Sheldon road, giving families a convenient way to complete the required screening. And the pilot is expected to screen up to 1000 students through November. So joining us right now to talk all about it is the impact director with who we play for Sean SEMA. Um, Sean, I know that we're here to talk about screenings, but I think you just heard this launch. Didn't you? That's funny. I'm coming to you from Merritt Island, Florida, and that's literally about five miles from, you know, where they fire these rockets off three, four times a week. So, uh, pretty incredible. You know, sometimes we take it for granted because it's right out of our back door, right? Uh, but it's pretty incredible. That's awesome. I love it. Well, um, Sean, the, you are always such an incredible person to talk to because I know you have had a firsthand experience with all this, you know, personally, why screenings matter. Tell us about what happened to your 16 year old daughter, Lexi. Yeah. So about, it's actually 10 years this year, February 2nd, uh, my seemingly healthy, you know, incredible athlete, uh, daughter, uh, who never really had any medical problems in her entire life, never complained of any problems or, or complaints, uh, left her high school softball game, uh, went to a local gym to prepare for cheerleading tryouts the following morning. And, uh, within five minutes of getting on a treadmill, my daughter collapsed, uh, with sudden cardiac arrest. I mean, my daughter was clinically, she was basically dead and, uh, she sort of dropped dead at the right place at the right time, if you will, uh, in front of a group of non-medical bystanders who did CPR, used an AED and shocked her back to life. Wow. Um, you know, that only happens in America for one out of 10 people. Uh, so right now in America, it's a right place, right time, uh, you know, type thing that decides if somebody is going to survive. Yeah. And I, I'm, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I'm, I'm so glad she survived, but, uh, unfortunately, like you said, some don't. And I, that's why I feel like it's huge that Florida is now the first state in the country to require ECG screenings for high school athletes. What exactly does that new requirement mean for these student athletes and their families, Sean, what do they have to do? Do they have to do this prior to the season? I'm assuming. Yes. So essentially, you know, all kids that are going to play high school sports in state of Florida, uh, starting in ninth grade, uh, they have to have an, you know, an ECG, which is also known as an EKG. A lot of people get that confused, uh, but they have to have this heart test, uh, in order to play. Um, I'm as you may or may not remember, I'm a medical provider myself. I've done thousands of physicals on kids and really had no idea what I didn't know until my own daughter, as we talked about, you know, dropped dead in a gym and, uh, the current standard that we do to screen our kids, um, and medicine freely admits this is only good to catch about, you know, one to two, you know, things out of 10 and our kids is 20% on our best day in a quiet room with our stethoscopes. And when an EKG is done, when it is read correctly by something called the international criteria, which all of our doctors use, we can catch about 90 to 94% of these conditions that are going to kill our kids. This is the leading cause of death in athletes and the American heart association reports about 23,000 kids a year in America suffer from sudden cardiac arrest. Uh, so arguably it's the leading cause of death in children. And we have a test that will catch about nine out of 10, not all, uh, but you know, it's a much better standard in what we're doing right now to protect our children from dying. And then one in 300 kids have a deadly heart condition that we are really unable to catch with our stethoscope in current history and physical. Uh, so it's really, really important. And Florida has really taken the first step to change the standard of care in America. I love to hear that, especially, you know, as a former student athlete, you think about how you didn't have to do something like that. So, uh, the fact that it is required is huge. And I know a new program launched yesterday, Sean at quest diagnostics on Sheldon road. So walk us through what happens when a family comes in for screenings and what people need to know about this, uh, that Yeah. The key, the key right now is nobody argues even medicine, uh, doesn't argue that this should be the standard of care. It's just so hard to deliver because there's a, you know, a certain way that you have to read these EKGs for screening. And, uh, that has been the difficulty, you know, all along, uh, there's not enough doctors or cardiologists who understand how to read these EKGs. So our, our nonprofit who we play for is partnered with so many entities. We are going in and out of schools throughout the state of Florida. Our group alone has screened almost 90,000 kids, but it's still not enough because we all know the parents and the kids that have tryouts tomorrow. They need the EKG ECG done today. Um, so having, you know, folks like quest as a partner, uh, allows families to go in, get the ECG done. And the most important part of that ECG is who is reading it. And, uh, that's what, you know, we've partnered with quest to do is we have cardiologists who are experts in the international criteria and can read those ECGs effectively. Uh, so there's not a false positive read, um, or, or some, something that comes up that really doesn't truly need to flag the kid from playing. Well, Sean, this all sounds incredible. I'm glad that people can utilize this at quest. Now we do have to wrap things up, but really quickly, how can people take advantage of this? Can they contact you? Can they contact quest? Tell me everything. Yeah. Number one, contact who we play for.org. We have a listing of all of our screens, all of our screening partners. And yes, you can register with quest, uh, and the Tampa location and come in and get the ECG done. It takes about five to 10 minutes. It's painless. It's 10 stickers you're in and out. And as a parent who never thought this was going to happen. And as a guy who's done a thousand thousands of physicals on kids, um, it's something that's so, so important already. The second chance act. We have over 300 kids who've been identified with deadly heart conditions, six who have gotten pacemaker defibrillators put in their chest. Every single one of those kids passed their physicals. The stethoscope cannot hear electricity. The ECG measures electricity. It's very, very important. And with that, I won't go on too long. Thank you. You guys have been such great partners and we are saving a lot of children by doing this examination and, uh, who we play for.org. Reach out. We'll help you in any way we can. Awesome. Well, thank you for everything you're doing to help our young athlete, Sean SEMA. We appreciate you and we will talk to you soon. Thank you. Take care. You as well, Sean. Thank you. All right, everyone. We are going to take a quick two minute commercial break. And when we come back, we did just have a press conference, uh, get underway involving a major drug bust. And I believe a lot of money was found. We're, we're going to get the details on that. We, uh, it happened right at the FDLE over in Tampa. So we're going to come back on that. We'll be right back. All right, everyone, as promised, we are going to listen in a correction here. This is not the FDLE. This is the U S attorney for the middle district of Florida, Florida, Gregory Kehoe, uh, announcing a large seizure of drugs, guns, and money this morning at the state attorney's office. This happened just moments ago. So we're going to listen in for just a few minutes. What we want to announce to you today is a joint effort that led to the indictment of Dominique Brown for conspiracy possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, possession of firearm and firearms, and furtherance of a drug, uh, drug crime and a felon in possession. Mr. Mr. Bowden was in fact, a felon in possession. There were two search warrants executed on the 23rd of September of 2026 by DEA and the sheriff's office here in Hillsborough County. And they netted over 22 kilograms of various narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, 14 handguns, several of which were determined to be stolen. One had his serial number drilled off and over $500,000 in cash. One of the warrants was executed at Bowden's residence, the other at his mother's house. The investigation in this case was just your good old fashioned police work based on information that the sheriff's office in conjunction with DEA put together. There was physical surveillance on Mr Bowden. There were cameras put up, there was electronic surveillance, there were wiretaps on the defendant's phone. And that's how this case began. And that's how with the evidence developed on what Mr Bowden was doing. What he was doing was he was using his phone to contact or people to contact him to sell various types of drugs. He was using rental cars. The individuals would come to the rental cars to pick up the drugs. All of that, much of that took place here in Hillsborough County public. For instance, the public's parking lot out in Bloomingdale gas stations here in Tampa. You can basically encompass this all in Hillsborough County. People would call, purchase narcotics, they'd come to the car and the transactions were made. On a particular completely unrelated incident, the sheriff's office stopped Bowden's car and after that he fled and evaded detection. But after that he hid the car in his sister's garage. And what happened at that was as opposed to stopping dealing drugs, Mr Bowden decided he was going to use his mother's house to continue to traffic in narcotics. And the same pattern took place. Calls on the telephone, individuals would come to his mother's house to pick up his drugs. The wire developed over time that his mother in fact knew about it and tried to get him to stop selling drugs from his house. But obviously Mr Bowden didn't listen at any point. What did we get from these various search warrants that I talked about? At the defendant's house, 266 grams of fentanyl, 6.9 pounds of marijuana, 1.3 grams of cocaine, 4 grams of oxycodone, and 11 firearms. At his mother's house, lest you think that the mother's house wasn't used continuously as a sale point for narcotics, we had over three kilograms of fentanyl, 5.4 kilograms of marijuana, over six kilograms of cocaine, 13 kilograms of methamphetamine, we had oxycodone, hydrocodone, and another three hand guns. But let us put this in perspective because we talk about amounts of drugs and we talk about of controlled substances and oft times we don't put this in context of what that means. What that means is this is over three kilograms of fentanyl. Fentanyl is traditionally used to be put into cocaine and to be put into methamphetamine while it's being sold. And off to my left you can see various packages of the cocaine and some of the other controlled substances that were deleted, that were seized at the time. What are we talking about as far as the danger to the community? And we have talked about this before, but let's just talk about it briefly. In 2024 we had over 80,000 deaths. All right guys, a very busy and quick rendition of Fox Tampa Bay Live this afternoon. We are going to have to take one last quick commercial break before the top of the noon hour when Linda Hurtado will join you. But we are continuing to listen in to Gregory Kehoe talk about a massive narcotics bust where they also found money and guns. FOX 13's Ariel Placencia gonna have more on that later today. Pretty soon Vice President J.D. Vance gonna speak in Lakeland. That's slated for about the two o'clock hour, maybe 1.45. Evan Axelbank is there. And then of course we'll keep you up to speed on the Crew 13 mission to the ISS. You're hearing the voice of Regina Gonzalez. Thanks so much for being with us here. We'll let you listen in for just a few more minutes and then we'll get you that quick break before you listen to the news at noon with Have a great day.