BUFORD, Ga. — It was a magical day. December 14, 2012. Josh Cardiello and his Buford High School Wolves won the state AAA football championship. Number 56, he played left tackle.
“He was so tough and so dominant and played it the right way, and represented us so well,” said Sean Gilbert, a Buford High teacher who coached Cardiello.
[READ: Former high school football star dies at 30 by same affliction that killed his younger brother]
The victory was especially sweet because months earlier, assistant coach Ryan Daniel, died from sudden cardiac arrest at age 30.
It’s the same condition that claimed Cardiello’s life Monday while playing basketball, according to his father, Jay Cardiello. He, too, was 30.
“His loss was completely unexpected and has left our family, friends, and colleagues heartbroken,” Jay Cardiello wrote on his LinkedIn page.
The loss comes less than five years after Josh’s 23-year-old brother Jacob – who also played football at Buford – died from the same condition.
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“We’re kind of shocked and numb, baffled, by both brothers,” Gilbert said.
In a text to Channel 2’s Bryan Mims, Jay Cardiello wrote that Josh had heart failure when he was 25.
“Northside Cardiology got him back to normal, and he even trained and finished a half Ironman triathlon,” he wrote.
After graduating from Buford High School in 2013, Josh had a scholarship to play football at the University of Georgia.
After playing there for two years, he transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
He pursued a career in the pharmaceutical industry, just like his father.
“My mother had Parkinson’s, and we always talked about making a difference professionally, doing purposeful work,” Jay Cardiello wrote in a text.
He most recently worked at Amgen Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in California.
“Josh loved working at Amgen,” his father wrote on LinkedIn. “He was deeply passionate about the pharmaceutical industry and the purposeful work he did informing and supporting healthcare professionals. He was a true patient advocate, especially committed to serving patients living with cardiovascular disease. Josh understood firsthand the burden these diseases place on patients and families.”
Josh married a woman he knew from high school and had a one-year-old daughter named Amelia.
Gilbert said Josh often showed up to cheer on his Wolves from the stands.
“I mean, he was a big guy, kind of that Teddy bear kind of guy,” Gilbert said. “He loved other people, he loved his teammates, he loved his family, and he loved this place.”
His father posted this on LinkedIn: “I will channel my grief and pain into honoring my beloved sons Josh and Jacob and advocate for national mandated genetic testing at birth, scheduled heart screening throughout childhood, and any innovations and advancements for effective cardiovascular treatments.”
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