Grayson “Gray” Lane Temple was born April 20, 2005. He was the first son born to Dale and Michelle Temple.
Grayson was born at 37 weeks and spent the first eight days of his life in NICU. Upon discharge, other than respiratory issues his first year of life he was a very happy healthy baby.

As he grew up, he became active in sports including basketball, baseball and football. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and the outdoors. He was a left-handed, fun loving, jokester with a big heart. He was the picture of health. He stood 6’2” and was 230 pounds. Grayson could be found working on a motor of most any kind, welding, and hanging out with his friends. Grayson loved aggravating his older sisters Corinne and Sarah Peyton and his younger brother Jacob. Grayson was a part of the homeless ministry and cooking team at his church. He loved to experiment with new cooking recipes.

Grayson never complained of feeling bad and was rarely sick. Six weeks prior to him going into cardiac arrest he was having symptoms that he had not shared with his parents. He had told his friends and the school nurse, but no one recognized the symptoms he was having as possible signs of a heart issue.

A week prior to his death, his mom noticed he was unusually tired and sleeping more than normal. Grayson had stayed home from school with what he called a stomach bug. After a couple of days home from school, his mom checked his blood pressure with an automated cuff and noted his pulse was too fast. She obtained her stethoscope and listened to his heart and found an arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). The next day an appointment was made with a pediatric cardiologist.

Four days went by before Grayson would been seen and ended up being directly admitted to PICU with atrial flutter. The medical team attempted cardioversion and oral anti-arrhythmias unsuccessfully. The third day, they made the decision to attempt the cardioversion again but before the procedure could be performed Grayson went into cardiac arrest. Their attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He passed away on December 8, 2021 at the age of 16.

Genetic testing was performed, and we learned that Grayson had a genetic predisposition to a cardiac arrhythmia such as Long QT syndrome. His cause of death was listed as myocarditis which is the #3 leading cause of death in student athletes.

Grayson was an organ donor and continues to give to others even in his passing. As of today, he has given the gift of sight to two people.

Grayson’s parents have made it their purpose to educate their community about sudden cardiac arrest.