UNE coach died while running

So sad. Crazy stuff happens and you never know when it will strike.

Damn, that really sucks. So young. It's crazy to me that a young, extremely fit person can fall prey to a massive heart attack while doing a routine workout.

Horrible news. Makes me think of Kevin Gatons, 2:24 marathoner and husband of Cheryl Collins who took 25th in the World Marathon Champs in the late 90's. Collapsed and died suddenly while jogging the course with one of his runners at the PA state meet.

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_478209.html

We runners think we will live forever because we run so much but regardless of how many miles we run we never know when it will be our time. Enjoy every day of life.

Sounds like an underlying condition made fatal by his illness.

I've had bronchitis a bunch of times and had to take antibiotics most times to get over it. It's no joke. I don't do any aerobic exercise when that stuff hits.

I thought you meant University of Nike, Eugene.

And my college teammate and the 5ht man on our cross country team, a 14:40s guy who was still running consistently - if not competitively - when he died at age 40 while playing in the snow with his kids.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/high-school/2014/01/07/cross-country-coach-jason-dejoy-dies-unexpectedly-/4364969/

For what it is worth, I think that things like this happen to well conditioned athletes less frequently than the stories would lead you to believe. The stories just stick out in our minds because the outcome is so contrary to what we would expect with respect to someone so fit.That being said, while those who get regular cardio do tend to be healthier, there is a real and slightly increased risk of spontaneous death to the well conditioned athlete. So basically, running is better for you than not running, even though there is a slightly higher chance that you can drop dead like my close friend did.RIP Bud Light.

Twofer wrote:

Sounds like an underlying condition made fatal by his illness.

I've had bronchitis a bunch of times and had to take antibiotics most times to get over it. It's no joke. I don't do any aerobic exercise when that stuff hits.

While everyone is thinking about these tragedies, its a good time to remember to get regular checkups. If you are at risk, you will likely get prescribed aspirin (every other day) and a statin. Take them, they help.

Very sad- You can be very fit and appear healthy and have a blockage in your arteries.

My condolences to his family and athletes.

While that is certainly true, from what I understand, cases like this often result from arrhythmia more often than from a blockage. The electrical signals in the heart fall into a bad rhythm, and then heart stops as a result.

This is why, even though I am healthy and normally decline medical tests that I don't think are absolutely necessary, I let my GP do an electrocardiogram on me each year as part of my check up. Not a foolproof test by any means, but probably the best that you can do as practical part of any regular physical.

Smoove wrote:

While that is certainly true, from what I understand, cases like this often result from arrhythmia more often than from a blockage. The electrical signals in the heart fall into a bad rhythm, and then heart stops as a result.

This is why, even though I am healthy and normally decline medical tests that I don't think are absolutely necessary, I let my GP do an electrocardiogram on me each year as part of my check up. Not a foolproof test by any means, but probably the best that you can do as practical part of any regular physical.

Yeah this wasn't a heart attack as a previous poster had mentioned. Sudden cardiac arrest means VT/VF. Could be several different reasons for this, but a main cause in younger athletes is usually non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Good chance I raced against this guy a few times on the roads. A real shame.

One thing to note here is that hypertrophy and dilation of the ventricles is common in trained athletes. When the average cardiologist reviews the test results on a highly trained athlete's heart, they may be concerned because the degree of hypertrophy (increased thickness of the muscle wall) and dilation (thinning of the muscle wall resulting from expansion of the ventricle) is way off of the charts compared to the average person on the streets.

I went through this last year as a result of the testing done as part of my physical with my GP. The cardiologist I saw was sort of stumped and a little concerned. I ended up doing a treadmill stress test and the nurse administering the test knew me from the local endurance sports scene as he is a local triathlete. Fortunately, as someone who had a real interest in the cardiology of athletes, he knew that my tests would be off from the viewpoint of my cardiologist and he also knew that the Mayo clinic has a database on the hearts of elite athletes. When compared to the appropriate data set, it turned out my heart was just fine, despite slight hypertrophy of the LV and moderate dilation of the RV.

So, have the tests done, but if it turns out that your doc is concerned about the dilation or hypertrophy of your ventricles, suggest that they send the results to the Mayo clinic for comparison against their database (I thought this might be a big hassle to have done, but apparently it was no big deal. It just happened in the background for me).

Letsbang wrote:

Yeah this wasn't a heart attack as a previous poster had mentioned. Sudden cardiac arrest means VT/VF. Could be several different reasons for this, but a main cause in younger athletes is usually non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Good chance I raced against this guy a few times on the roads. A real shame.

My bad. Thanks for the correction.

So sad. If you work at a school or a gym, please make sure there is a AED on-site and staff know where it is and how to use it.

off base wrote:

So sad. If you work at a school or a gym, please make sure there is a AED on-site and staff know where it is and how to use it.

I'm no cardiologist, but the AED will not even activate for certain heart attacks...not sure what happened to this young man, but an AED may or may not have helped.

I hope the best for his family. Terrible tragedy.

Sadly, it seems sudden cardiac deaths are occurring more often in teens and young adults nowadays. I had a cardiac event during a race last year which resulted in a pacemaker implant for Bradycardia and a Type 2 AV Block. In short, I had a congenital heart defect that went undetected my entire life until it was nearly too late. My thoughts and prayers are with this man's family.

McVote wrote:

I'm no cardiologist, but the AED will not even activate for certain heart attacks...not sure what happened to this young man, but an AED may or may not have helped.

This was not a heart attack. It was sudden cardiac arrest. AEDs are often much more affective than CPR for SCA events. This is especially true for young, healthy victims. If the victim's rhythm is not one that responds to electric shock, the AED will provide that feedback and normal CPR should be continued until medical personal arrive.

While it's true that they can't save everyone, over 300,000 people die in the US every year from SCA that may have been prevented with quick use of an AED.

Odd you should bring up Dejoy. A few weeks back I was looking at past Stockade-athon 15k results. Trying to find a pic of him winning is next to impossible. Great runner. Great guy. All these deaths are a reminder that no matter your 5k time, life is frail. In my line of work I literally see people every day who got up in the morning made coffee, checked their e mail, kissed the wife goodbye and left the house - to never come home. Car accidents, heart attacks, strokes, even murders - you never know when your time is up. Be careful in how you treat people. The number of people whose last conversations with somebody was an argument would surprise you. Very common with families. Don't let that be yours.....

He was a great guy. We didn't live in the same state anymore, but I got to go on a 10 miler with him on our old college loop just a few months before his death. Great run and a great conversation for long time friends. I consider running a gift, and that run in particular a special gift.