San Jose Teen Dies Trading Friendly Punches With Pal

Los Angeles Times ^ | 07-29-2003 | Hilda Munoz

[boris]

San Jose Teen Dies Trading Friendly Punches With Pal

Officials decline to press charges. They say game is a common 'test of manhood' and doesn't have a high death risk.

By Hilda Munoz, Times Staff Writer

A punching contest between two teenage friends Sunday ended when one of the boys died in front of his San Jose home after receiving a blow to the chest.

Jacob Salas, 16, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, authorities said.

Richard Jimenez, 19, who allegedly delivered the fatal blow, fled the scene but was arrested at a friend's house five hours later and booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, officials said.

[boris]

Hold muh...

[TomServo]

OK - let's see who can hit the lightest. You first...

[eyespysomething]

[thegreatbeast]

Stupid kids. Geez,...

[eyespysomething]

[Pharmboy]

Yes...rare, but certainly well-known in the medical literature. Hard, blunt trauma to the chest can cause cardiac arrhythmia and/or arrest. Sad story.

[csvset]

One dead vato.

[jjm2111]

I'm not registering. Do we have to excerpt the LA Times?

BTW, a punch directly to the sternum delivered w/ enough force can do enough damage to screw up one's heart. (I'm not sure if it changes the rhythm or what.) Most of the time, this game wouldn't be dangerous because the blows would be delivered to the pecs, shoulders and many times they would only be glancing ones.

[mr.pink]

Sad story.

I agree.

IMO, The "puncher" should be smart and own up ASAP.

[boris]

"I'm not registering. Do we have to excerpt the LA Times? "

Yes.

How About a Nice Hawaiian Punch?

[I still care]

This is not the first time. I remember a few years ago the same thing happened. They punch each other in the chest as "test". The boy that died was I think about 14, and all the kids were amazed he died - seems they do this all the time. It seems the puncher was a good friend.

This seems to be part of certain public highschools culture. It is one of the reasons I homeschool. I don't have to waste time and effort convincing my kids this is stupid.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Yes...rare, but certainly well-known in the medical literature. Hard, blunt trauma to the chest can cause cardiac arrhythmia and/or arrest.

Its also a rare, but not unheard-of youth hockey hazard, and has influenced the design of some shoulder (and chest) pads. A slap-shot can pack quite a punch.

[Pharmboy]

A recent review of this post-trauma cardiac syndrome.

JAMA. 2002 Mar 6;287(9):1142-6.

Clinical profile and spectrum of commotio cordis.

Maron BJ, Gohman TE, Kyle SB, Estes NA 3rd, Link MS.

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, 920 E 28th St, Suite 60, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA. hcm.maron@mhif.org

CONTEXT: Although blunt, nonpenetrating chest blows causing sudden cardiac death (commotio cordis) are often associated with competitive sports, dangers implicit in such blows can extend into many other life activities. OBJECTIVE: To describe the comprehensive spectrum of commotio cordis events. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analysis of confirmed cases from the general community assembled in the US Commotio Cordis Registry occurring up to September 1, 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Commotio cordis event. RESULTS: Of 128 confirmed cases, 122 (95%) were in males and the mean (SD) age was 13.6 (8.2) years (median, 14 years; range, 3 months to 45 years); only 28 (22%) cases were aged 18 years or older. Commotio cordis events occurred most commonly during organized sporting events (79 [62%]), such as baseball, but 49 (38%) occurred as part of daily routine and recreational activities. Fatal blows were inflicted with a wide range of velocities but often occurred inadvertently and under circumstances not usually associated with risk for sudden death in informal settings near the home or playground. Twenty-two (28%) participants were wearing commercially available chest barriers, including 7 in whom the projectile made direct contact with protective padding (baseball catchers and lacrosse/hockey goalies), and 2 in whom the projectile was a baseball specifically designed to reduce risk. Only 21 (16%) individuals survived their event, with particularly prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation/defibrillation (most commonly reversing ventricular fibrillation) the only identifiable factor associated with a favorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The expanded spectrum of commotio cordis illustrates the potential dangers implicit in striking the chest, regardless of the intent or force of the blow. These findings also suggest that the safety of young athletes will be enhanced by developing more effective preventive strategies (such as chest wall barriers) to achieve protection from ventricular fibrillation following precordial blows.

[2Jedismom]

The opposite of a precordial thump, which is administered to a person in cardiac arrest.

I wonder if the kid had just thumped him again...would it reverse it?

Wow.

[mr.pink]

Thanks for the info....my pop was a heart surgeon, so I had bit of a general understanding of this type of occurrence.

[pabianice]

Valuing the Difference of the Multicultural Diversity Alert!

After all, who are we to judge the culture of others...?

[Arrowhead1952]

Hold muh...

To bystander, "Hold my "STUPID" sign and nomination for my Darwin award while we trade punches".

[Pharmboy]

If he was in ventricular fibrillation, it prolly would not have helped.

[ladyinred]

Oh man, This is awful, and awfully stupid! This is what makes a man huh? Now I understand!