The sports world was shocked on 7/25/23 when Bronny James, son of LeBron James, apparently suffered a cardiac arrest during a USC basketball practice. He was resuscitated on site, and then hospitalized.
Initially, to me, this was somewhat reminiscent of what happened to Hank Gathers back in 1990. He was 23 when he collapsed during an LMU college basketball game, and died before reaching the hospital. Hank Gathers had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (IHSS), and had stopped taking his medication because it made him feel sluggish. Back there was no paucity of information as to what had exactly happened to Hank Gathers.
Compare that to Damar Hamlin who suffered a cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game. This episode was witnessed by millions of viewers across the nation. There are major differences between the Hank Gathers situation and the Damar Hamlin situation.
-Hank Gathers died, while Damar Hamlin is still alive.
-Whereas we knew basically everything about Hank Gathers cardiac condition, we know basically nothing about the heart structure or function of Damar Hamlin.
-Hank Gathers’ cardiac arrest was due to his IHSS. At present the party line is that Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was due to commotio cordis.(From Science Direct: Commotio cordis, a rare syndrome in which young healthy individuals suddenly suffer cardiac arrest after blunt chest trauma traditionally related to a sports activity such as baseball, hockey, or lacrosse, is characterized by a sudden disruption of cardiac rhythm in the absence of demonstrable signs of significant heart injury that is induced by a direct blow to the chest.)
Let’s be clear … is it possible that Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was due to commotio cordis? Yes, it is possible. However, is it likely? No … unless there is an increased susceptibility to commotio cordis in those athletes who have received Covid vaccinations.
-Hank Gathers obviously did not receive a Covid vaccine, while the vaccine status of Damar Hamlin is kinda hush-hush and is not commented on.
To me, it is interesting that what happened to Bronny James was not in our local “newspaper” the following day. Certainly it can be categorized as news, but nothing, zero, zip, nada.
I wish Bronny James a full recovery, and I hope that the cause of his cardiac arrest is treated openly, more like that of Hank Gathers, and not secretively like that of Damar Hamlin.
7/26/23
californiacontrarian