U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s daughter was a seemingly healthy 17-year-old teenager when she died in June from a “sudden cardiac arrhythmia,” the suburban congressman’s family said in a statement Friday.
“In layman’s terms, she was fine, and then her heart stopped,” the Casten family said. “We don’t know what caused the arrhythmia, and likely never will.”
By all accounts, the Democrat said, his daughter Gwen Casten was an healthy teenager who ate well, exercised, regularly had doctor check-ups and didn’t suffer any behavioral issues. She had close relationships with both family and friends.
Gwen Casten had just spent the evening with some of those friends before going home. Then she “went to bed and didn’t wake up,” the Casten family said.
Police responded to Casten’s home at 6:48 a.m. on June 13 on a report of an unresponsive teen girl, Downers Grove police said at the time. First responders determined she was dead when they arrived.
“We are heartbroken, but we are not unique,” the Casten family’s statement continued. “Sudden, unexplained heart failure among young, healthy people is rare but real. We are left grasping at the wrong end of random chance.”
The Casten family said they’re grateful for support they’ve received since Gwen Casten’s death. The number of letters, messages, meals and flowers are a testament to the importance of her short life.
Knowing the amount of lives Gwen Casten touched was somewhat comforting.
“She had a big, beautiful, kind, loving heart. And it stopped, as all must,” the Casten family said. “None of us know when our last heartbeat will come. The best we can hope for is that when our loved ones do pass, we will have no regrets about the time we were lucky enough to share.”
Casten is a third term in Congress, running in a newly redrawn 6th Congressional District. Those new district lines meant he first had to defeat a fellow incumbent House member, US. Rep. Marie Newman, in the June primary.
Casten now faces Republican nominee Keith Pekau, mayor of Orland Park, in next month’s general election.
