On The Ball
Cardiac Kids: Why Every Young Baller Should Have An Annual Cardiac Exam
I'll never forget the day Hank Gathers died - or the summer that ensued for that matter. For me, it was a loss that still lingers to this day and has been jolted tragically back to mind with the just-as-sudden, passing of another native Philadelphian, Western Kentucky junior basketball player, Danny Rumph, who collapsed and died on March 8 at the Mallory playground in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
As a young basketball player at Martin Luther King High School, I competed against Hank several times and spent of a major portion of my formative years playing at the 25th and Diamond Streets playground in North Philadelphia that now serves as a memorial to his greatness. Being the same age as Gathers and having known that I competed against him many times, while not claiming to be one of his close friends, prompted me to wear his number 44 on my own sneakers the remainder of 1990 as a tribute to the fallen star and competitor whose greatness never reached its full, unlimited potential.
Like Gathers, Rumph, 21, was in excellent condition and had displayed no history of having any cardiac problems prior to his passing, which makes both events that much harder to fathom. How can a seemingly invincible young man with his whole life ahead of him be tragically taken away by an unknown heart condition?
Aren't old people supposed to be the ones with heart problems?
Unfortunately, that isn't the case these days where a cardiac condition can seemingly strike anyone of any age, but these tragic events and many others that I don't care to mention, have raised an awareness about cardiac healthiness in young athletes that never existed prior to Gathers' death.
Dr. Jack Uhrig, a specialist in internal medicine at Missouri Valley Physicians, took time out of his hectic schedule to offer his knowledgeable input to this column in the hopes of educating other young athletes about the perils of unknown cardiac conditions. Uhrig explained some of the conditions that could cause a young athlete to suffer with cardiac problems.
"With sudden cardiac death in young athletes, there are probably several different causes. There have been several papers published on this and autopsies on young athletes that have died suddenly," Uhrig said. "What it really boils down to, is usually some kind of problem with cardiac rhythm or some kind of congenital heart disease. There is usually some kind of problem with the heart muscle or one of the heart valves."
Uhrig said that although there could be myriad reasons for a sudden cardiac attack, he emphatically urged any athlete who has even the faintest suspicion of a cardiac problem to have themselves checked out immediately and extensively.
"The problem with these kind of cardiac abnormalities is that they're very hard to pick up on when the patient comes into our office for what we refer to as the pre-participation sports physical," Uhrig said. "When I've seen athletes for their sports physicals, lots of times, coaches and everybody kind of just blow off things thinking these young kids are healthy. We look very carefully at their muscular skeletal status and then also an exam checking their blood pressure and listening for heart murmurs."
Back in 1990, tests revealed that Gathers had suffered a mild heart attack and was left with an irregular heartbeat, known as cardiac arrhythmia. Lane Bove, then the vice president of student services at Loyola Marymount University, authorized the purchase of a defibrillator (a device used to shock a heart back into its normal rhythm) at the recommendation of Gathers' doctors. After the collapse, Schaefer brought it to every game Hank played in.
Gathers saw multiple doctors at the request of Loyola booster Albert Gertsen, Jr. and the doctors agreed that he should rest for a few days and that he should start taking Inderal, a common medicine to control arrhythmia.
The medicine made him sluggish and head coach, Paul Westhead, a basketball legend with Philly ties himself, played Gathers sparingly. On March 4, Gathers arrived at Gersten Pavilion ready to play and his team got off to a quick start, jumping out to an early lead with Gathers in the middle of it all. He was rebounding, scoring and doing everything in his power to help LMU get the win. His teammate, Terrell Lowery threw an alley-oop pass to Gathers which he grabbed and slammed through the hoop to give the Lions a 25-13 lead with 13:34 remaining in the first half. While heading back to mid-court to get ready to play defense, Gathers staggered and collapsed to the floor.
The doctors checked Gathers' pulse and in accordance with its instructions, they did not use the defibrillator. The device was only supposed to be used if the person's pulse was undetectable or barely detectable. They put him on a stretcher and carried him out of the gym. By the time he was outside, the doctors could no longer detect a pulse.
The defibrillator was pulled out and three shocks were administered. The staff worked on Gathers on the scene and then put him in the ambulance, but one hour and 41 minutes after he collapsed, Hank Gathers was pronounced dead.
Rumph's passing last month prompted me to write this column urging all young athletes who are seemingly in wonderful condition, to get an annual cardiovascular screening. Sudden cardiac death is a rare event in athletics and more than 20 different causes have been described, however, Uhrig said that sometimes, detecting symptoms early can be a warning in itself.
"The most important thing is ... ‘Have you been passing out? Has anybody in your family died suddenly at a young age? Are there any clues that there may be any sort of inherited rhythmic disorder,?" Uhrig said. "If they've been passing out or had any concerns of excessive shortness of breath with exertion, they need to be evaluated further. If there are any questions, they probably need to see a cardiologist who can do some other diagnostic testing and look for abnormal heart rhythms. If I find anything that makes me suspicious, then that patient is going to get an echocardiogram, which is a soundwave test. Again, it's not cost effective for everybody that comes through your door. That's a $500 or $600 exam, so you're not going to do it on everybody, but you should do it if you hear a heart murmur that you think is suspicious."
I firmly believe that any attempt to thwart [SCD] is a good thing. Many attempts have been made to detect those at risk for sudden cardiac death before athletic participation and at this time, a thorough history and physical examination are the most efficient screening methods for detecting cardiovascular abnormalities. Studies show that the current status of participation in cardiovascular screening of high school and college athletes nationwide is poor.
This needs to change before another outstanding young athlete like Danny Rumph or Hank gathers passes away and leaves their respective loved ones searching for answers.
According to the Philadelphia Health Department, an autopsy revealed that Rumph, died of cardiomyopathy, which is an inflammation of the heart, according to the American Heart Association's Web site.
In one form of cardiomyopathy, "the muscle mass of the left ventricle enlarges," sometimes causing cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death, according to the American Heart Association. Although Uhrig agreed that identifying these heart conditions can be difficult, he said that any time a question about an athletes health has arisen, it's always better to be over-cautious than anything.
"I tell the coaches that any kid who has had some kind of event, that kid should not play and participate until they have been properly evaluated and cleared by a doctor and even then, they may need further testing and I would not let an athlete play if they have passed out - something serious is going on," he said. "It's unusual to find a young athlete that has that [cardiac problems] and know ahead of time before they have an event. Most of the time, you don't get any warning and the first time they [young athletes] have something happen is during play." Other athletes who experienced SCD include marathon runner Jim Fixx (1984), Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman (1986), former basketball star Pete Maravich (1988), and the Boston Celtic's All-Star Reggie Lewis.
Isn't it time we, as a nation, put forth the maximum effort to save the lives of our young athletes?
I say, unequivocally, yes.
Remember, not only are we talking about young athletes, but young people who may one day go on to achieve greatness in several professions.
I say it's time we do all we can to make sure these young people have the chance at life to achieve that greatness.
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About Eric Williams
Eric Williams is six year veteran Sports columnist for the Philadelphia Sunday Sun. Eric was born and raised in Philadelphia and has covered all four major professional sports in the Philadelphia area. He has also covered golf, track and field, soccer, tennis and bicycling.
Lifetime Boston Celtics fan. Basketball and football are his favorite sports. Eric is married with five children and currently resides in Marshall, Missouri.
Comments and feedback can be sent to eklass66@yahoo.com