Heart Patient Granted First 'Round of a Lifetime' Honor

From the Round of a Lifetime Foundation:

On July 20, Patrick Brett, the first recipient of Philadelphia-based nonprofit Round of a Lifetime Foundation, will play a cherished round of golf at Congressional Country Club with his father, brother-in-law and cousin. The 30-year-old congenital heart patient of Blue Bell, Penn. was selected to be the first recipient of the foundation, which grants rounds of golf on world-class courses to heart patients who may not otherwise have the opportunity to do so.

"To me, playing at Congressional means more than just a round of golf at a world class facility,” said Brett. “It means that people who have been dealt the hand of a congenital heart defect can still do things that some world class athletes can, and the Board of Round of a Lifetime is to thank for that."

Round of a Lifetime was established in 2010 by friends and family of Philadelphia’s Andrew Maciey, who passed away from Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy at the age of 24. His surviving friends and family fondly recall spending time on the golf course with Andrew and set up the Foundation in his memory.

“Being the first recipient of this award and playing the first round means that I am keeping Andrew's golf legacy alive and hopefully paving the road for many, many more recipients. I know that we will have an incredible time, and I know that Andrew will be there with us,” said Brett.

Brett, who suffers from the heart condition Tetralogy of Fallot, was selected from a group of candidates put forth from University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He is a guidance counselor and baseball and basketball coach at North Penn High School in Lansdale and married with an infant daughter. He had his first heart surgery at nine months old for a Ventricular Septal Defect that was repaired by PDA ligation, and several surgeries followed. Just this February, he had yet another surgery to replace his ICD/Pacemaker and add to new leads from the device to his heart because his heart rate was too low.

“We want to create lasting memories like ours for others who suffer from congenital heart disease,” said Round of a Lifetime President Joe Maciey, Andrew’s cousin. “We’re so pleased to be awarding our first round to Patrick, who started playing golf only after he could no longer play organized sports due to his illness.”

The Round Of A Lifetime's second recipient, 13-year-old Caleb Smith of California, will be playing at Trump National Doral Miami in October.

Further information is available through the Round of a Lifetime Foundation website.