There are also cases of heart problems that can cause sudden death like that. Every once in awhile you hear about them. My hubbies family has some kind of strange heart problem. After one of the cousins dropped dead before age 18, they all got checked for it. I think it’s called long Q syndrome.
That’s what happened to Hank Gathers.
Yep. There was a Univ. of Washington female b-ball player who dropped after a practice about 3 years ago. Her teammates performed CPR on her until the paramedics arrived. She was lucky...she survived. But, she was fitted with an internal auto-defibrillator and can’t play ball anymore. She was also diagnosed with Long Q after the fact.
Long QT syndrome.
I know from personal experience. Discovered the hard way at 39 that I had it. Fortunately, I only went into tachycardia instead of the almost always fatal fibrillation. Now I get to walk around with a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted in my chest, but thankful to be alive and living a normal life.
There is some kind of heart disease that is virtually undetectable - until it happens. Owen Brown [U. MD basketball alum], Hank Gathers [Loyola Marymount Basketball], and Flo Hymen [U.S. Womens Volleyball] all died from it on the court. Happens more frequently to blacks - but a white kid when I was in Jr. High also died from it [again, on the court].
Hank Gathers was particularly tragic since it happened RIGHT BEFORE the NCAA Tournament - and Loyola Marymount had not been in for a long time. Hank was the reason they got there. As a tribute, his teammate shot his first foul shot in each game of the tournament left-handed in tribute [and MADE ALL 3] ...