Protestors remind people about vaccine injuries as elementary school hosts organization that provides heart checks

Article/COVID-19 - 4 minute read

BALDWIN CITY - a small group of protestors stood outside of Baldwin Elementary Intermediate Center on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, while parents went in with their children to have their hearts checked by My-HeartCheck, an organization based out of Overland Park, Kansas that has been around since 2014.

Protestors stand with signs near N 300 Rd. as they talk to a person that is their for My-HeartCheck. KU Film students are also shown documenting the protestors.

After having the sheriff’s called on them twice for being on school property, the protestors stood on a corner of N 300 Rd where vehicles could leave the schoolgrounds. Signs were displayed that said, “WE WARNED YOU”, “DOES COVID VAX CAUSE HEART ISSUES?”, “VAX DAMAGE ‘CHECKED’ HERE”, AND “2021 EXCESS DEATHS 40% ↑”

Dr. Justin Spiehs was one of the protestors. He became known in Douglas County, Kansas for standing on street corners protesting mask mandates on kids and later campaigning for Douglas County Commissioner District 1 through the same means. He was joined by Lawrence residents who have protested with him in the past including Amy Baughman, Sue Herynk, and later, Joe Herynk. A couple of film students from KU were also there for the first half of the protest, creating a documentary on Dr. Spiehs.

“I think it’s important to bring light to the fact that people are saying there could be heart issues if you get the vaccine,” Baughman said. “And then now, I think it’s ironic that they are having these clinics to check kids’ hearts and everybody is having great deals on them even. Offering 80 percent discounts basically to get them in there and check the hearts. Most likely because they want to get ahead of the problem.”

Baughman also said she felt it was important to “open up some eyes.” She held a sign of two arrows in the shape of syringes pointing in opposite directions. One arrow said “before” and pointed to a sign she held during past protests she had done. The second arrow said “after” and pointed to the school where the HeartChecks were occurring. She also said this was not a protest against HeartChecks, but rather a protest to remind people about the harm the vaccines can cause.

A sign protestor Amy Baughman held during her time protesting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The school superintendent Mark Dodge came out to confront the protestors, asking them if they knew that this wasn’t about the vaccines. However, after a quick exchange, he went back inside the school.

One individual that came to the My-HeartCheck, and visited with the protestors, Brian Connell, said his son had cardiac arrest four years ago.

“When they were having these events all over the region, we weren’t paying attention because our kids were healthy,” Connell said. “A million dollars worth of bills was better than a $25,000 funeral, but we also realized that maybe we could have avoided all of that if we had just been paying attention and said, ‘Hey, let’s get my son’s heart screened.’ Do we know for sure if it would have made a difference? We don’t know. But we do know that this has saved a bunch of other kids and their families the same grief and the same trauma.”

Connell also said he was there in support of the event and that his daughter was helping out.

“I’ve been with these guys and various groups from Salina to Lee Summit to CPR, AED, and HeartCheck events all over the place,” Connell said. “They’re good people and they do a good job and it’s affordable.”

My-HeartCheck offers screenings that would normally be $1500 for $149.

“We’ve been doing this for ten years now,” founder and owner of My-HeartCheck Eric Schroeder said. “We’ve screened a little over 14,000 kids. What we’re looking for is genetic and congenital heart defects…. There are certain things you can find doing EKGs (electrocardiogram), and then we also do an echocardiogram which is an ultrasound of the heart.”

Schroder also said they look for structural abnormalities and electrical abnormalities with everything being reviewed by pediatric cardiologists before issuing a report back to the parents. Statistically, he says 1 in 100 kids have an issue with 40,000 kids born every year with some kind of heart problem.

Athletes “Dying Suddenly” and the work at My-HeartCheck

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