Reminds me of the Hank Gathers tragedy at Loyola Marymount decades ago.
There are
similarities and differences even though the Parents of Caleb White may never release an autopsy report of their teenager...most parents do not in situations like this.
Simply, we may never know what happened exactly unless Caleb White was already under physician care & prescription medicine like Hank Gathers (23 years old).
The Gathers tragedy (Ventricular Tachycardia) was a preventable tragedy and states today are
still not prepared for such events on the high school level even though Hank Gathers sudden cardiac arrest occurred during a
college basketball game.
- Sometimes it is not known what causes ventricular tachycardia, especially when it occurs in young people. But in most cases ventricular tachycardia is caused by heart disease, such as a previous heart attack, a congenital heart defect, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, mild respiratory infection, or myocarditis.
Gathers was lucky at first because doctors were able to diagnose his heart problems that first went
undetected during a routine required physical to play basketball at Loyola. I believe it was a cheerleader that Gathers mentioned he had pain in his chest after one particular hard practice. She then just happen to mention it to a team doctor during her own medical issue involving an injury to her leg.
Team doctors begin to monitor his basketball practice and notice some signs plus his own family medical history...they then had him take a more complete physical (not a routine physical) with tests that look for specific problems with the heart...
- Those types of tests typically are not given in college sports and are rarely given in high school sports unless a team doctor, coach or family member notice something abnormal. In fact, only ONE state in the United States makes it a requirement to give the tests to look for Ventricular Tachycardia or any other abnormal heart functions...
That state is Massachusetts.
Anyways, team doctors put Gathers on prescription medicine for his heart problems and he was back playing basketball...trying to get back to his prior level of breaking many national records. The problem...his performance sucked while on medication and the team doctors begin
lowering his dosage but later discover in the months after Gather's death in a key college basketball game...
He was
not taking his medication on game days accordingly to close friends of his at college because it slowed his performance and he did not want to risk not being the #1 draft pick in the NBA.
Fast forward to 2017, the American Academy of Pediatrics did extensive research on youths after many cases of sudden cardiac arrests in youths that resulted in death. They discovered a shocking 1 in 25 youth ages 12 to 19 have hypertension, and 1 in 10 have elevated blood pressure (previously called “prehypertension”). High blood pressure is more common in youth with obesity.
The risk of suffering sudden cardiac arrest is 10 times higher during practice or play because the heart has to work harder. About 2,000 people younger than 25 die each year from sudden cardiac arrest, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Here's the problem with the above...most high schools (+20,000 high schools in America) do
not have team doctors, only require routine physicals, and will only have ambulances on standby at sporting events of big tournaments and/or state competitions.
Every year since Hank Gather's death (1990)...teenagers have been collapsing dead in practices, games
or dying at home...more often than not...suddenly without any initial reasons. These are supposedly HEALTHY TEENAGERS based upon a "routine physical"...
not a complete physical because most insurance companies do not pay for such.
Here's the other problem variable in the above equation...
4.165 million youths in 2021...in the United States of America
do not have "health insurance". Simply, families in the United States can not afford those types of extensive medical exams.
Simply, if your child plays sports, the family has a history of medical issues (e.g. overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, et cetera)...
Youths in high school sports in America are at high risk like the story of Caleb White especially if you're a star athlete because your family and you with keep any information about problems detected in a complete physical (if you're lucky enough to afford the tests/have adequate insurance that will pay for such tests)...
Your family and you do not want to scare away any potential of getting athletic scholarships.
In contrast, professional sports like soccer, NHL, NBA, NFL will require extensive access to your medical history including your family medical history, they will have in-depth conversations with the team doctors at your university. If they see too many
"routine physicals"...they will require the athlete to take a more complete physical at a medical facility/hospital in your local area/nearby location
prior to the big draft day.
It's a well-known fact that if you have heart problems in college or high school...you will fall into the lower rounds of the draft...costing you multiple millions of dollars. As stated, you do not want the word to get out about any medical issues...lost scholarships, and/or low draft picks if the word gets out.
Last of all, an extreme exercise routine that may come with sports...it's commonly known that athletes push themselves beyond healthy limits into the "unhealthy category". Many well-known stories of high school athletes doing such without the coaches knowing.
Some parents are aware and have been involved in
"pushing their kids" too hard in out of school training for fear their kids will lose scholarship opportunities.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179786/
https://www.indystar.com/story/spor...thletes-die-sudden-cardiac-arrest/5504764001/
wrbtrader
