A lifeguard's warning sign: how Kevin Comerford's emergency saved three lives
When a Jersey Shore lifeguard experienced sudden pain, he never expected it would lead to life saving surgery for him and two of his family members.
On a summer morning in 2024, Kevin Comerford started his day exactly the way he had countless times before. He went for a run followed by a swim in the ocean to cool off before his shift atop a lifeguard stand. The 21-year-old lifeguard for Stone Harbor, New Jersey was in excellent shape. But, on the walk to his stand, a sudden pain shot through his neck and jaw.
At first, he tried to play it off: maybe he was dehydrated, or had pushed too hard during his morning workout. He sat on the stand, draped a towel over his head to escape the sun, drank fluids, and waited for the discomfort to pass. But as the morning wore on, the pain continued. It was sharp, distinct, and unlike anything he had experienced before.
By early afternoon, Comerford’s instincts told him something wasn't right. He called his lieutenant and explained what was happening. As the pain worsened, he knew it was time to get it checked out. His parents drove him to a local hospital, where an electrocardiogram, or EKG, returned normal results for his heart’s electrical signaling.
“At that point, everything was coming back normal,” Comerford recalled. “I was kind of embarrassed. My parents were there, my brothers were there, all these doctors were there, and they weren't finding anything wrong. I was thinking, ‘Is this all in my head? What's going on?'”
Fortunately, the emergency team decided to order a computed tomography, or CT, scan, to visualize what was happening with his heart. That decision likely saved his life.
From the shore to Philadelphia
When the results of the CT came back, doctors discovered an aortic aneurysm, a dangerous enlargement of the body's main artery. His aneurysm wasn't simply enlarged, but had torn and was actively bleeding.
“At first the doctors told me I’d probably need open-heart surgery eventually,” recalled Comerford. “Then Penn reviewed my scans and said, ‘He’s bleeding. He needs to be airlifted right now.’ All of a sudden it went from something we'd monitor to a real emergency.”
Poor weather kept the medical helicopter grounded. Instead, an ambulance rushed Comerford from the Jersey shore to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
There was a digital clock inside the ambulance, displaying the time of day. “I found myself watching that clock, and in my head I was counting down to my surgery,” he recalled, knowing there was a team of people preparing to operate as soon as he reached the hospital.
When he arrived at Penn, reality set in. “I started thinking of my best friend of 10 years, who had passed away 2 years before due to a sudden heart issue.” As Comerford was removed from the ambulance on a stretcher, he saw his aunt and uncle waiting for him. There was little time for lengthy discussions, but he grabbed his uncle to tell him one last thing before he was wheeled into the hospital; “Don't tell my parents this while I'm under, but if things go sideways, cremate me and just spread my ashes on 99th Street Beach,” he said. 99th Street was where his family had spent their time on the beach for decades.
Kendall Lawrence, MD, the cardiothoracic surgeon who led the team repairing Comerford’s aorta, met him in the operating room and explained what would happen. “The room was intimidating, packed with medical equipment I had never seen before, and bustling with activity,” recalled Comerford. Yet Lawrence's confidence reassured him. Comerford looked at her and asked one final question before going under: “Are you guys any good at this?” She smiled and assured him that they were.
The Aorta Center at Penn Medicine brings together a team of cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, vascular surgeons, geneticists, and other experts to diagnose and treat patients who have a complex aortic condition. In the event of an aortic emergency, the team is ready to respond 24/7.
A short time later, Comerford was asleep.
A long recovery ahead
When he woke up, he found himself surrounded by family, nurses, tubes, and monitors. The operation saved his life, but doctors told him the road to recovery would not be easy. The days that followed included pain, physical therapy, and a brief readmission for atrial fibrillation- an irregular heart rhythm. Eventually he was well enough to return to classes at Boston College, though his doctors told him to take it easy with physical activity in the months ahead. As he recovered, Comerford’s physicians gave him a recommendation that would soon prove lifesaving: Aortic aneurysms can run in families, and given his age, doctors strongly suspected a genetic link. They suggested the rest of his family should be screened.
Genetic testing is increasingly an option for many families in this situation as well. At Penn Medicine, physicians and researchers are working to create a risk assessment tool that could identify people at risk of life-threatening aortic aneurysms or dissections. Good candidates for genetic testing include people diagnosed with aortic or arterial aneurysms at a young age, those with rapidly progressive or multiple aneurysms, and those with a family history of aneurysms or dissections, with or without syndromic features.
A few months after Comerford’s emergency surgery, his mother, Robin, attended a cardiology appointment to assess her own risk. By that point, several family members had already been evaluated for heart issues and nothing significant had been found, so she expected a routine visit. Instead, imaging revealed a serious problem. Robin had an eight-centimeter aortic aneurysm, a size so large that physicians told her they rarely encounter patients living with aneurysms of that magnitude. Unlike Kevin's, hers had not ruptured, but could at any moment and needed immediate attention.
Within hours, Robin found herself facing the same reality her son had confronted only months earlier. At Penn Medicine, renowned cardiac surgeon Wilson Szeto, MD, chief of Penn’s Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, performed the operation that would save her life. This time, the mother and son’s roles were reversed. Kevin sat in the waiting room with his father, experiencing firsthand the uncertainty his family had endured while he was in surgery. He became both a source of reassurance and a reminder of what was possible. When Szeto emerged with good news, the family experienced an overwhelming sense of relief. For the second time in less than a year, Penn Medicine had saved a member of the Comerford family from a potentially deadly aortic aneurysm. But there was one more family member that would need the care of Penn’s aortic team.
The importance of family screening
After learning about Kevin and Robin's diagnoses, Robin's brother Jeff decided to revisit a finding from years earlier. At one point, doctors had noted a small aneurysm, but it had not been considered large enough to require intervention. Motivated by his family's experiences, he underwent another evaluation. The aneurysm had grown significantly. While it had not yet become an emergency, Penn physicians determined surgery would eventually be necessary. Because it was discovered in time, Jeff was able to schedule the procedure electively, prepare for recovery, and undergo treatment.
“Kevin’s case underscores why family screening is so important,” said Szeto. “In this family, taking the simple steps to get evaluated by a doctor led to the discovery of additional aneurysms and created an opportunity to intervene before tragedy occurred.”
In the span of little more than a year, three members of the same family were diagnosed with potentially deadly aneurysms, and all three received lifesaving care at Penn Medicine.
Today, Kevin is back in the classroom, pursuing a master's degree in mental health counseling. Outside of the classroom he’s been working with Penn Medicine doctors to strengthen his body while he trains for the Philadelphia Marathon. Looking back, he still thinks about how easily the outcome could have been different not just for him, but his family.
“I got lucky,” Kevin said. “I listened to my gut when something felt wrong, and because of that my mom got diagnosed, my uncle got diagnosed, and we're all still here. When I sit on the beach now or spend time with my family, I don't take any of it for granted. Every day feels a little more like a gift.”
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