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Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten’s 17-year-old daughter, Gwen, died in June from a sudden cardiac arrhythmia, the Casten family announced Friday in a written statement.

“In layman’s terms, she was fine, and then her heart stopped,” the statement read. “We don’t know what caused the arrythmia, and likely never will.”

Gwen Casten, 17, the oldest daughter of U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, was a recent Downers Grove North High School graduate. She was found dead in the family’s home Monday morning in Downers Grove. Courtesy of the Casten family

Shortly before her death on June 13, Gwen had appeared in a digital ad in support of her father’s reelection efforts. She also had interned on her father’s 2020 reelection campaign, the Daily Herald reported.

“Gwen was a healthy 2022 teenager. She ate well, exercised, got regular check-ups, didn’t suffer from any behavioral health issues and had close relationships with family and friends. She was fully vaccinated, and quarantined after occasional positive, asymptomatic COVID tests during the omicron wave. She had just come home from an evening with friends, went to bed and didn’t wake up,” her family said in the statement. “We are heartbroken, but we are not unique. Sudden, unexplained heart-failure among young, healthy people is rare but real. We are left grasping at the wrong end of random chance.

Casten is seeking a third term in representing Illinois 6th Congressional District in Congress in the Nov. 8 General Election against Republican Keith Pekau, who is the Orland Park mayor.

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October 7, 2022 at 05:19PM