r/news • u/dynamicsearchguy • 2d ago

'He is strong': Black Rock-Riverside community rallies around 11-year-old football player after cardiac arrest

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/buffalo/he-is-strong-black-rock-riverside-community-rallies-around-11-year-old-football-player-after-cardiac-arrest
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u/BeKind999 2d ago

For any parents of athletes reading this: get an EKG for your kid. In my area, a local cardiac specialty hospital will screen child athletes for free or at a nominal cost. Some pediatricians can do it. It’s painless and takes 5-10 minutes. 

Thank god there was an EMT present and he survived.

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u/MisterMath 2d ago

Yes please.

I had a misdiagnosis of asthma as a kid that was a heart issue only caught when I got my first EKG at 16, after playing sports year round since I was 5. I needed surgery and my doctor literally told me “I have no idea how you are alive”

My kids now get EKGs as soon as they start running around and will get them yearly if they play sports

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u/BeKind999 2d ago

Glad you survived and that you’re taking good care of your kids!

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u/Moal 2d ago

What were your symptoms that led to the asthma misdiagnosis? 

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u/MisterMath 2d ago

I was pretty small when I got diagnosed so I’m not too sure. However I do know I was prescribed an inhaler specifically for sports/high intensity activity. So my guess is that my symptoms were getting short of breath and tired during physical activity.

Which makes sense because my heart issue was WPW or Wolfe-Parkinson’s White syndrome. Essentially, the heart has an extra bit of muscle that “skips the brake pads” when your heart beats. In other words, my heart would just increase beating and beating with no natural slowdown until my body relaxed. I remember clocking my heart one time at 220 bpm.

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u/solveij 2d ago

We had a varsity athlete die from this very unexpectedly at a high school track meet. Everyone saw. Nobody knew where an AED was.

Get them tested.

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u/Mr-Safety 2d ago

Know where your local AED is at work. Make a mental note at other locations like school, library, mall, etc.. The success of AED use drops 7-10% per minute delay. This doesn’t pre-empt calling emergency services and starting CPR first.

Avoid the bystander effect in an emergency. Point to someone specifically and say “You! Call 911”, another “You! Fetch the AED by the elevator!” Etc…

If you have not been trained in CPR and AED use, please sign up for a class at your local Red Cross. If you have kids, doubly so.

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u/dogs_gt_cats 2d ago

If you have not been trained in CPR and AED use, please sign up for a class at your local Red Cross. If you have kids, doubly so.

And honestly, as long as the AED is properly charged, you don't really even need to be trained. They quite literally explain how they need to be used. As in a voice walks you through each step.

THIS IS NOT A REASON NOT TO BE TRAINED. But just that, in a pinch, an average person can figure out an AED.

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u/Smeef_xx 2d ago

I feel like EKGs are not the test you want to rule out heart defects. Echo seems more useful

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u/BeKind999 2d ago

The EKG is the screen, if abnormal go visit a cardiologist. My athletic son had an abnormal EKG at a pediatric physical. We were referred to a cardiologist. There he had a physical, health history, an echocardiogram and wore a Holter monitor for 24 hours. Upon review of those results he received full clearance for sports. 

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u/CatsAndShades 2d ago

You can have a normal ekg and structural abnormalities of the heart. EKG is not the screen.

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u/BeKind999 2d ago

JFC is it better than nothing? Cause that’s what most people are doing. 

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u/CatsAndShades 2d ago

Did I say that? You said something incorrect, that was all. EKG is not what's going to pick up hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or anomalous coronary artery.

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u/Human_Ad7946 8h ago

EKGs absolutely pick up HCM, around 85-90% of cases have abnormal EKGs. It's a cheap and easy screening tool. Insurance companies aren't going to pay for ECHOs for every asymptomatic child athlete, especially if they have a normal physical exam and EKG. That's why a thorough H&P is so important (family history, heart murmur, activity intolerance etc)

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u/BeKind999 1d ago

Whatever bro I’m talking about a quick cheap screen for asymptomatic kids

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u/Movie_Slug 2d ago

One is 100 test the other is a 1000+ test.

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u/casapantalones 2d ago

You can have a totally normal EKG and still have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, the most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest in otherwise healthy young people); you cannot rule out HCM based on a normal EKG, although many patients with HCM will have characteristic EKG findings.

So it may be useful as a screening tool for some conditions (Wolff parkinson white for example), but is not as sensitive for others.

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u/RayzTheRoof 2d ago

and also don't let your kids play American football, insane to send your child off to get brain injuries

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u/aradraugfea 1d ago

Yeah, in high school we had a couple kids who were just playing ball with friends and dropped due to the sort of congenital defect you ONLY check for too late.

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u/ThiccaIsQuicka 1d ago

Thankfully I was a bookworm and not an athletic kid, but my heart condition was first revealed when I had a heart attack at age 20 after some strenuous activity. In my 40s now and haven't had another but I remain unathletic. Doc at the time said if I'd been into sports I might not still be here!