This weekend was our Pacific Masters Championships. It was a close battle between WCM and USF and I don't know who won at this very moment. I don't care.
You see, I left right before the 1000 today (the last event) right after the last relays. I watched some great swims today. Amazing swims. My friend Brendon swam a 2:03 200 fly and really hit his taper (as he's not going to Nationals)- we were teasing about how he does really well the week after a tapered meet. He seemed to finally figure it out this time.
My friend Stephen called me tonight and told me that Brendon also had a great 1000, was warming down, had a heart attack and died. He was 35. I was stunned. I've been crying since then trying to make sense of it all. It doesn't make sense.
I called some other friends and no one else can believe it either. Suddenly, the meet doesn't matter, swimming doesn't matter, what matters is that we lost a really great guy today. He was always so happy, funny, and loved to tell jokes. He was really good natured and fun to be around. I will miss him terribly.
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Karen Duggan
Would a routine physical have picked this up, atherosclerosis (if it was the case)? Or is that the one where you would need more specialized testing like an EKG?
A routine physical probably would not have detected this. And if he'd had no symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath) there would have been no reason to suspect he had a problem. Early detection of coronary artery disease remains a challenge. What's needed is a simple, inexpensive test with a very high sensitivity and a low rate of false positivity that can be used for the general population. Did he have a family history of heart disease and/or sudden death?
Originally posted by Karen Duggan
Would a routine physical have picked this up, atherosclerosis (if it was the case)? Or is that the one where you would need more specialized testing like an EKG?
A routine physical probably would not have detected this. And if he'd had no symptoms (chest pain, shortness of breath) there would have been no reason to suspect he had a problem. Early detection of coronary artery disease remains a challenge. What's needed is a simple, inexpensive test with a very high sensitivity and a low rate of false positivity that can be used for the general population. Did he have a family history of heart disease and/or sudden death?
