Click on the Pictures link below to check out pics from the recent Artisans and Angels event benefiting the Jordan Robert Mann Foundation.

Pictures!!!

The foundation is honored and grateful to be this years beneficiary of the ‘Artisans and Angels’ event organized by the Kansas City, Missouri and Shawnee Mission, Kansas Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club to be held Friday, February 27th at Mission Farms.   Details are below.

Friday, Febuary 27, 2009 ~ 10557 Mission Road, Leawood, KS ~ 11:00am to 8:00pm

11:00am to 6:00pm Art Show and Sale featuring antiques, paintings, jewelry, and textiles  6:00pm to 8:00pm Cocktails and music

Tickets are $25 or you can buy an angel ticket for $50. Donations welcome.

Dear Family and Friends,

We would like to express our gratitude for your cards, letters, emails, flowers, food and acts of kindness that you generously provided to our family following the loss of Jordan.

As you may be aware, Jordan had a congenital heart condition, called an anomalous coronary artery that had been present since his birth. He had no symptoms; therefore, we had no reason to suspect he had this condition. It is one of the leading causes of sudden death in athletes which usually occurs during exercise although Jordan passed away in his.

We have chosen to honor his life by helping fund heart health assessments for athletes at participating schools, hoping to prevent any family from experiencing a similar tragedy. Our long term goal is to change how the medical community assesses and evaluates heart health in all athletes.

To sum it up using Jordan’s favorite quote:
“While some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do!”

Though we wish we had many more years with Jordan, we are blessed with the wonderful memories and joy he brought to our lives and all those he touched.

We wish you and your family an abundance of love, health and peace in the New Year.

With sincerest love and appreciation for your generosity, support and prayers,

Phil, Lisa, and Phillip

The Results of Jordan’s Autopsy

To all of you who have helped us through this tragedy, Lisa, Phillip and I would like to share the final results of Jordan’s autopsy, cardiac pathology and cause of death. While we had hoped that the results would have come sooner, activities in Dallas prevented final review by the cardiac pathologist until recently. The autopsy performed in Kansas City stated Jordan’s cause of death as “cardiac arrhythmia or possible channelopathy”. There were no other findings as his toxicology report did not reveal any organic abnormalities and was totally clean.

Initially we all, friends and family, wanted to know the cause of the arrhythmia, but we also prepared ourselves for never fully understanding. Fortunately with Jordan’s Grandfather being a cardiologist he was able to have Jordan’s heart sent to a world renowned cardiac pathologist who did further studies and determined that Jordan had an abnormality of one of the coronary arteries (they supply blood to the heart muscle). This is called an anomalous coronary artery, and it had been present since birth. The course of the artery over the heart was such that it could be constricted, temporarily blocking blood flow to parts of the heart. Usually with this anomaly, as in Jordan’s case, there is no damage to the heart but may result in a serious or even fatal rhythm disturbance or arrhythmia. It is a leading cause of sudden death in athletes, even though Jordan’s event did not occur during athletic competition. It is a relatively rare malformation, and usually cannot be detected before an event occurs. In Jordan’s situation there were no symptoms to suggest this anomaly was present which would have led to further investigation.

This anomaly is not linked to heredity or so far, any genetic pattern. Even so, as you might expect, Phillip has been thoroughly tested and has a clean bill of health.

Finally, there is no way to express how important your thoughts, prayers, emails, cards and letters have been to our family. You have inspired us to perpetuate Jordan’s Legacy through his foundation. Now that we have a cause we also have a purpose, Jordan’s passing will benefit many. Or as Jordan would point out, “the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!”

With sincerest love and appreciation for sharing memories of Jordan’s life with us!

Phil, Lisa and Phillip

I would like to share with you all today three words that define Jordan: PASSION, COLOR, and LOVE.

PASSION: Since high school Jordan’s nickname was JDP, which stand for J-dogg Passion. Some call him J-dogg. I call him Passion. Everything Jordan said or did he did with passion. He only did things he was passionate about, otherwise, he didn’t do them at all. You would ask him to do something with you, and unless you could convince him to be passionate about it, there was no way of getting him to budge. As a result, he only did things that he knew would positively fill his life and make him a better person. Since this word enriched his life so deeply and made him into an incredible person in his short life, I please ask you to, LIVE LIFE WITH PASSION!

COLOR: The other day my mom, brother, and I were in the car heading to my cousin Bobby’s graduation party. Jordan had just finished an interview for a job and at that interview they made him take a personality test. He told us that basically he was the most amazing person one could be. My point is not that he was arrogant, because he was far from it. My point is that he truly represented every personality trait one could have. You never knew what person you were getting when you were with Jordan. Sometimes I even had to ask, “so who am I talking to? Should I come back in 5 and talk to somebody else? Because he knew how to truly be himself, he was the most colorful person I have met. And with this I ask you to please let your guard down, expose yourself to the world and say “Here I am!”, and never be afraid to show everybody your true colors.

LOVE: Every one of us has a unique love with Jordan. Especially, over the past few years he became amazing at physically and verbally expressing his love. One way he did it with me was he was my biggest cheerleader. Almost three weeks ago I was racing to a national championship with him there. He would stand on the side of the road and recruit everybody to cheer. He would say, “You tell him he’s the strongest. You tell him he looks good. You tell him he’s going to win!” Although he could have done it himself because his love for me was greater than anything, he wanted everybody to share. He wanted his love to come from everybody, and he wanted to share his love with everybody.

In the end I ask, take your business card. It’s not a memorial card, because that just wouldn’t be Jordan. He embodied the entrepreneurial spirit, so it’s only fare that we call it his business card. On the back it says, “Live life with PASSION!” In addition, remember to be colorful with who you are, and don’t be afraid to show everybody who you want to be that day, or even that moment. And lastly, always express your love. Jordan was so good at it, and I hope you all can find the same intense love that I had with Jordan with somebody special in your life.

Phillip Mann, Jr.

Looking west from our mountain retreat
We catch a fleeting glimpse of you:
In the boiling afternoon clouds,
Then again in the blue gray silhouettes at dusk;
Only to appear in the blanketing brilliance of the stars at midnight.
And you will tease us through the glimmer of dew on the Aspen leaves,
Tinkling in the sunrise.
Forever we will see you
In every athletes graceful moves,
In every enquiring mind,
In every winning smile.
Our eternity and yours
Will forever be intertwined.
Your legacy will be our inspiration.
For what more could we have ever wished
Then to be touched
By THE JORDAN MANN EFFECT.

Robert Conn
May 31, 2007

The Memorial Service celebrating the life of Jordan Mann will be at:

2:00pm Thursday, May 31^st 

Village Presbyterian Church
6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS 

A Reception will be held immediately following in the Friendship Hall.

In lieu of flowers or other remembrances donations may be made to:
The Jordan Mann Charitable Trust Fund
c/o Peggy Melton 
Country Club Bank
2001 Shawnee Mission Parkway,
Shawnee Mission KS. 66205 

For those of you who dont know, Jordan lived every day to the fullest. These are words from Jordan’s Facebook:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.